Founder Ryan Carpenter Builds Franchise Brands on Care, Honesty and Community
Growing up in the small town of Coldwater, Mich., Ryan Carpenter (below with his family) learned everything a local business should be. His parents’ plumbing and heating business became a trusted part of the community, and it taught him that local businesses were built on relationships. “My dad was the person people called when something went wrong with their plumbing and air. He was known for showing up, doing the job right and treating people with care,” he says.
As an adult, Carpenter moved to Central Indiana and stayed in the plumbing and heating industry working for a distribution company. He soon realized that companies were pushing customers into repairs or purchases they didn’t really need. It was far from the honest, relationship-based business he had grown up around.
In response, he decided to recreate what his father had built. He launched Plumbing + Heating Paramedics in 2011 to bring trusted, personal service to homeowners in his community. “I felt the industry needed to get back to its grassroots of actually taking care of and serving their customers,” Carpenter said. Today, his original business has expanded into two franchise opportunities: Plumbing Paramedics and Heating + Air Paramedics. “I want to give franchise owners a way to bring that same service-first approach to their own communities.”
Customer Care
Plumbing Paramedics helps homeowners with plumbing issues such as leaks, water heaters, drains, garbage disposals and urgent repairs. Heating + Air Paramedics focuses on heating, air conditioning, maintenance, repair and replacement services. The “Paramedics” name reflects the way Carpenter thinks about the business. When a homeowner calls with a flooded basement, broken furnace, failed air conditioner or no hot water, they are often stressed and looking for someone they can trust. His team’s job is to respond with care, urgency and calm.
“When you call our company, it’s not ‘press one for this and two for this,’” Carpenter says. “It’s, ‘How can we help you?’” Carpenter believes great customer service starts with people. He has a sign in his warehouse that says: “Take care of your employees and the employees will take care of your customers.” To him, employees come first because they carry the culture into every home they enter. When technicians feel respected, supported and trusted, customers feel the difference. Carpenter says his team members stay because of the way the company treats people. His technicians are not pushed to sell services and products to customers that they don’t need. Instead, they focus on finding the right solution, explaining options and respecting the homeowner’s decision.
To Carpenter, being local means being visible, involved and invested. “Franchisees need to be the mayor of their town,” Carpenter says. “Community involvement can mean sponsoring Little League teams, showing up at school events, supporting local markets or simply being the company people know they can call in an emergency.”
Learn more about the franchise opportunities offered at Threshold Brands.
