AKRON, Nov. 1, 2026 — It’s no secret that big private equity (PE) firms are out to purchase many small, privately-held heating, ventilation, & air conditioning (HVAC) companies. According to the website dealseam.com, an online business acquisition bridge site, PE has bought up about 800 HVAC, plumbing, and electrical companies since 2022 and now accounts for about half of all HVAC-service company sales. (See link below).
But one local company, Jennings Heating Cooling Plumbing and Electric, has chosen to go in a different direction by becoming a Direct Employee Owned Company. The company has more than 20,000 customers and annual sales approaching $15 million.
Jennings began as Jennings Heating in 1931, when the Jennings Brothers sold coal by the bucketful to cash-strapped homeowners so they could heat their homes during the Great Depression. Mike Foraker went to work there in 1979 and purchased the company from Fred Jennings and the other members of the Jennings family in 2010.
Now 71 years old, Foraker was raised in the Akron area and lived much of his life in Summit County. In recent years PE firms have come calling. But going in that direction was unpalatable to Foraker.
“With no long-term debt and a skilled workforce (at Jennings), I wanted a better outcome for customers and employees alike instead of selling out to some private, out-of-state PE conglomerate,” Foraker explains. “I believe in our employees; they’re special, and I want to see them benefit from the company’s success and our free enterprise system.
“Employee-owned companies typically provide a much better retirement situation for employee owners, and better service for their customers,” Foraker adds.
THE JOURNEY TO EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP
Jennings is at the top of its field. It enjoys a Google rating of 4.9 based on more than 4,600 different reviews of its sales and service teams. It has also enjoyed a reputation as being one of the Akron area’s top HVAC experts, electricians, and plumbers for decades. So, the decision to become an employee-owned business didn’t happen overnight. It took years of research and preparation.
Foraker first looked at ESOP, or Employee Stock Ownership Plans. He wasn’t happy with the upfront expenses and time involved, as well as significant annual cost and rigidity in its structure. It isn’t a good fit for companies with less than 250 employees, according to the National Center for Employee Ownership. (See link below.)
So next, he went to Kent State University (KSU) and sought advice from its Ohio Employee Ownership Center, which has provided support and assistance to business owners since 1987. As a result of that connection, Foraker ended up speaking with the Tandem Center for Shared Business Success, a Pennsylvania-based non-profit that assists companies with implementing Employee Direct Ownership.
Both moves took Foraker and Jennings to the desired direction and outcome.
“I am excited to see the transition to employee ownership come to fruition at Jennings,” says Chris Cooper, director of the Ohio Employee Ownership Center at KSU. “From my first meeting with Mike, I knew that sharing ownership with the employees was a natural progression of the culture and community that he and the team have created at the company over the preceding decades.
“Research shows that employee-owned companies tend to outperform competitors, and that it helps in attracting and retaining good people to come work at the company,” Cooper adds. “One of the reasons we get so excited about employee ownership is that it really provides companies with the framework for future success. Providing a stake in the outcome tells employees that they will benefit from their own hard work.”
Cooper also praised the Tandem Center for finding an employee ownership model that fit best with what Foraker wanted to accomplish. The Tandem Center took Foraker and others in Jennings’ top management team through a five-phase rollout of employee ownership, consisting of:
- Exploring the basics of shared success models of employee ownership
- Evaluating Jennings’ need and readiness
- Building a customized ownership structure
- Rolling out the plan to the team
- Growing the employee-ownership culture over time at Jennings.
Drew Mousetis, the Tandem Center’s executive director, touts many employee ownership benefits for employees and owners. A strong executive team needs to be in place for the process to succeed, and Jennings has that now. Jon Novak, chief integrator and financial officer, and Anthony Yacobucci, general manager, have added expertise and depth to the company’s operations.
“Employee ownership is a way to transition ownership while leaving a legacy. The company remains rooted in the communities where people live and work, maintains its culture, and still brings a fair price to the owner,” Mousetis says. “Direct employee ownership is an incremental, managed transition where the owner can sell shares back to the company over time at a pace, one that the new employee/owners are comfortable with.”
EMPLOYEES BENEFIT IN MANY WAYS
To launch the employee ownership program, Jennings introduced a profit-sharing arrangement at the beginning of autumn. The company’s employees shared profits from the first six months of 2026 and will continue to do so on a semi-annual basis. Employees can choose between receiving a cash bonus or using profit-sharing to invest in newly issued Jennings’ stock. This process will continue until eventually employees will own 100% of the company.
The result is a win-win outcome that benefits employees in many different ways, including pride of ownership.
“Being with Jennings for two decades, I have always taken pride in being part of this terrific company and the people who have made it what is it today,” says Andy Agrawal, HVAC installation training and support lead. “Becoming employee-owned takes that pride to another level, knowing that we all have a personal stake in the success and future of a company that we’ve worked so hard to build.”
“Our logo includes the phrase ‘faithfully serving our community since 1931’ of which all our employees embody daily,” says Jon Novak, chief integrator and financial officer. “Now that we have employees owning the company, we have further strengthened this commitment and culture for many years to come.”
“Being an owner in a local, privately held company, allows for a direct correlation of work to return and an increase in share value,” Novak adds. “The trades are an amazing business opportunity, and having the ability to own a portion of such a long-tenured company is both exciting and rewarding.”
“Becoming a partial owner was very exciting for me,” adds Chris Redman, customer service manager. “Any new employee can come in now and get on board to also have equity in Jennings. This is especially important for some of our recent hires, who’ve come from companies bought out by private equity. They’ve seen changes in operation that are not employee friendly.”
“Investing in our company signifies supporting the quality, dedication, and customer-first approach Jennings has on a daily basis,” says Ryan Kilpatrick, HVAC service technician. “By becoming shareholders, we not only contribute to the company’s future through our hard work but then also share in the profits that we generate.”
FAITHFUL, WITH BETTER OUTCOMES FOR ALL
Foraker believes that by becoming an employee-owned company, Jennings is also remaining consistent with its four core values:
- A customer-first approach
- Uncompromising standards
- Speaking the truth
- Confidently humble
“We have many decades of expertise and a proven track record of excellence, but we’ve been successful because we put our customers at the heart of everything we do,” Foraker says. “We are committed to excellence, integrity and quality in every aspect of our service, and we uphold the highest standards. All of this aligns perfectly in our becoming an employee-owned company.”
Quality, safety and efficiency are also hallmarks of how Jennings operates. Again, these operational standards are consistent with employee ownership as well as providing excellent HVAC, plumbing and electrical services to Jennings’ 20,000 customers.
Also, faith plays an important role at Jennings. Owner Mike Foraker hosts a CBMC (Christian Business Men’s Connection) International meeting each Thursday. The Bible verse John 3:3 is on trucks and signs at the company, and Jennings helps support ministry and mission efforts throughout Summit County as well.
Want to go deeper? Look here
Jennings’s website: https://jenningsheating.com/
Tandem Center For Shared Business Success: https://www.tandemcenter.org/
KSUs Ohio Employee Ownership Center: https://www.oeockent.org/
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SOURCES
Who is buying HVAC companies? PE roll-up tracker (2026) | DealSeam
https://www.esop.org/articles/esop-pros-and-cons.php
Eyeoncleveland.com has been posting features and news about Northeast Ohio since 2015. Eyeoncleveland.com founder John Kerezy wrote this story
