Wm. Henderson celebrates 40 years in business
MARPLE >> Wm. Henderson Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Inc. had a very modest start in the HVAC industry in Delaware County.
Started in 1977 by Rita and William “Bill” Henderson, it was just a two-person operation based out of the Henderson’s Havertown home with Bill doing all of the service calls for at least the first year. Since then, it has blossomed to a nearly 50-person operation with a 2,000 square-foot office – and a 2,000 square-foot warehouse to boot – and a fleet of trucks with the company’s name doled out in that iconic green font.
Come April 1, the Hendersons will be celebrating 40 years of service to the region where “your comfort is our priority.”
“We’ve just grown, we’ve grown by leaps and bounds,” said Rita Henderson, who still works part time in the business office.
In addition to a larger space footprint and expanding from one technician to 25 technicians and apprentices, Wm. Henderson has expanded from doing residential work to light commercial and apartment buildings throughout Delaware County, the Main Line and Chester County since its start.
“Did I think it would be 50 employees? I don’t think so. I was a little afraid of that, you know? But I have to say it’s been very good to us,” said Henderson. “We’ve been blessed, very blessed. Blessed with good employees, blessed with everything good I have to say.”
Today, the business has its own dispatch service that can get technicians out to customers 24/7, but it wasn’t always like that.
For at least the first 15 years, Bill Henderson would be the one to work a regular shift during the week and be the on-call technician around the clock.
“He never asked the men to be on call,” Rita said of her husband’s strong work ethic. “When we got a little bigger that’s when (technicians) started to be on-call only on the weekends. My husband always took the whole week. He was ambitious, very work-minded.”
And now another ambitious person in the family has taken the reigns: Rita and Bill’s son, Michael.
Michael became secondgeneration owner of Wm. Henderson in April 2016 following an already substantial role in the business. He cut his teeth in the HVAC industry while still attending Haverford High School by going into a plumbing apprenticeship class and then attending other reputable technical career schools in the region. He joined Wm. Henderson as a first apprentice and worked his way up to the operations manager in 2007.
“I thought that it would only get bigger when Michael started to come in and make a lot of changes and add a lot of things to the business,” said Henderson. “I knew that he wanted (to take the business over) years ago because there was no one who would care like he cares. It’s wonderful that he has taken over.”
She did admit that it was hard, and still is, to hand the business over.
As they start the next 40 years, family, friends and employees will celebrate Wm. Henderson’s 40 years of business with a special party at the Springfield Country Club on April 1. With an established presence in the community, and a new Henderson in control of the company, Rita laid out a very simple way to continue the business’s prosperity.
“We’re going to continue the success,” she said.