Chimney Heroes, a chimney services company based in Ballston Spa, has been experiencing a series of growth spurts over the past several years, according to president Jamie Wallace.
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how people live in their homes. In turn, the home services industry has experienced a lot of record-breaking growth, he said. The latest iteration of Chimney Heroes’ growth trajectory is the completion of a 3,000-square-foot training facility and a new, larger warehouse.
Chimney Heroes provides chimney inspections, sweeping, repair, masonry work and installation of gas and wood fireplaces. Wallace said the secret to the company’s growth and strength is his commitment to education.
All company technicians experience continuing education for excellence training, both internally and externally in an ongoing fashion. The construction of a dedicated training facility is the physical manifestation of years of investment in staff education and training.
“We have a manager on staff whose sole responsibility is training technicians in the field,” said Wallace. “Our company’s core values include professionalism and leadership development and my promise to my team is that I will provide everything they need to succeed and thrive in the chimney care business.
“We have a modern-day apprenticeship to tradesperson program, and we’re always looking to meet new serious candidates who’d like to study and work with us.”
The implementation of the new training facility comes at a time when many young people in the region are second guessing traditional higher education for career pathways. The trades offer job seekers meaningful work with great compensation. Currently there is a gap between supply and demand in the home services trades: demand for skilled tradespeople far exceeds the supply of available talent, said Wallace.
Chimney Heroes’ decision to invest in a dedicated training facility, and provide on the job training for all staff is potentially solving family, community and society level problems of the future on multiple levels.
Chimney Heroes offers a variety of other services. They perform masonry work, dryer vent cleaning and gas fireplace and stove cleaning and installation. The company also sells wood burning and gas fireplaces as well as wood, gas, and pellet stoves. His service area extends south to Albany and north to Warrensburg.
When Wallace started Chimney Heroes in 2010 it was originally named Saratoga Chimney Sweeps. He relied on word of mouth, networking groups and other marketing to develop a customer base.
The growth of Chimney Heroes was brought on in part because of two separate injuries Wallace suffered while on the job. He was out of work for several weeks, and during that time he earned no income.
There is no worker’s comp for business owners. “There’s nothing that protects you if you get hurt and can’t run your business,” he said. “That’s when there was a shift in my focus. I realized I had created a really nice job for myself, but I didn’t have a business.”
His company continues to grow. He used to send employees regularly to attend industry conferences, trainings and certification programs. Now he can do the training in-house.
For more information, visit chimneyheroes.com.