Welsch Heating and Cooling Company, St. Louis, MO, is celebrating its 115th anniversary.
As one of the oldest heating and air conditioning companies in the St. Louis area — and one of the largest signatory contractors for Sheet Metal Workers' Local 36 — it has been owned and operated continuously by the Welsch family since its founding.
Welsch Heating and Cooling was the 1992 ContractingBusiness.com
Residential Contractor of the Year
Originally located at 5601 Manchester Road, the company handled all types of items for the home, but when central heating became possible, Welsch began furnishing and installing indoor heating systems. With the introduction of air conditioning in the late 1950s and 60s, the company had a booming new business opportunity, adding air conditioners to all of those heating systems it had previously installed.
Having outgrown its facility, in 1970 the company moved to new headquarters near the intersection of Interstate 270 and Page Avenue. Welsch continues to operate from this modern 30,000 sq. ft. building. From this location, the company provides installation, maintenance and service on all types of heating and air conditioning systems for residential and commercial customers within a 50-60 mile radius, which includes the entire metropolitan St. Louis area. Current President and Owner, George "Butch” Welsch is the fourth generation of Welsch to own the company.
"We are extremely proud to be celebrating 115 years in business. In an industry where the average life expectancy of a company is only four years, we believe this is quite an accomplishment,” says Welsch. He gives a lot of credit for the Company's success to his father, Vincent Welsch, who was president from 1929 to 1980.
"Dad took over when his father died in the summer of 1929, only a few months before the stock market crash and depression. Keeping in mind that dad was only a sophomore in high school at the time and was able to manage the company through those terrible times is truly inspiring," Welsch exclaims. He feels that the company is well positioned to grow significantly as the current economy turns around, specifically in the area of retrofitting and sustainable heating and cooling options.
Butch Welsch is a frequent contributor to ContractingBusiness.com magazine. His most recent article —on the state of the sheet metal industry in 2010 — can be found at: http://bit.ly/welschcb
For more information about Welsch Heating and Cooling visit www.welsch-heatcool.com.
For more information about Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 36, visit www.sheetmetal36.org.