Goodberlet Home Services Inc

Goodberlet Heating and Air was started in October of 1982, by Tom and Anna Goodberlet. Armed with a small customer list from Tom's grandfather, who had ran and operated Coy Heating from 1950 to 1979, as well as building on the relationships of their parents, friends and family, Tom and Anna built Goodberlet Heating from the ground up while raising their three children. As the business slowly grew, Tom and Anna invested back into their home-grown community by sponsoring youth sports teams and participating and aiding local organizations. Concentrating on slow steady growth by offering quality service and installation with a strong focus on personal attention to the customer, Goodberlet's mission statement was simple "always do the right thing." In the beginning, Tom states, "We really were just interested in making a living and raising our kids. We really didn't have a business plan to grow. We both were raised in rather simple households, being our parents were children of the depression. 'Hard work' and 'Your word is your bond', these things are what we grew up with, and we still feel the same way." Concentrating on the energy crisis in the mid 80's, Goodberlet started offering some of the highest efficient heating and air conditioning systems available in the area. As their reputation grew, more employees where added and the company continued to expand within their wonderful customer base and the services they provided. Moving to a new location in 1996 to the high traffic corner of West Superior and Kennedy Dr in Bradley, Goodberlet's new visibility allowed for storefront offices, and a service and installation stock area. In 1999, with the business continuing to flourish, Anna came to work full time at the company and began offering their Planned Maintenance Agreements. "Our service dispatch would consist of a post-it note or a sheet of paper with all the calls on it for the day, Anna states, and we would keep track of all of our customers and service calls in a binder. In 2000 we invested in some computer software programs." Goodberlet Heating & Air remained on Kennedy Dr for 8 years capitalizing on the good economy, local new-construction and housing boom, residential replacements and service market. With a growing staff, the company looked for a larger space. Their current location at 255 E Brookmont in Kankakee suites the company well. "Family owned companies offer a very dynamic and interesting workplace, Tom states, "but we all get along, and we have to really find some different things to talk about at night, instead of 'how was your day?', but it has worked for 29 years." As of 2012, there are 6 "official" Goodberlets working at the company; yet the whole team is part of the family. The honest and fair values and traditions are upheld within all who work with and at the company. As the business moves forward; the changing of ideas, customers, products and markets will occur; however, somethings will not change.