Page 16 - The Compass - Volume 14 Issue 5

eventy percent of family-owned can proudly be seen on their website
Sbusinesses fail or are sold before and the walls of the office.
the second generation takes control. “We have a budget for culture
Only 10 percent survive to a third building now,” Rick Chandler,
generation. When Dean Ongaro general manager of Ongaro & Sons,
accepted the “2018 Fastest-Growing said. “We want our managers to take
Company” award at the 4th Annual our people off-campus, go out and
Success Group International (SGI) have fun! Don’t sit around a table
Gala in San Antonio, Texas, two and train—we’ll train them here. Go
months ago, beating out over 900 camping, take some boats out and
fellow contractors across North fish, just go get to know one another.
America, it made a resounding We give out tickets to Warriors
statement: Ongaro & Sons isn’t like games. We bought season tickets to
most family businesses. the Giants.”
Mitch, along with his brother “A week ago, we had the plumbing
Dean and their cousins Ernie and DEAN ONGARO RECEIVING install managers take a bunch of our
Paul, represent the third generation FASTEST-GROWING COMPANY OF THE YEAR AWARD plumbers out to a beer tasting,” Paul
of Ongaros’ to own and operate AT THE SAN ANTONIO GALA added.
Ongaro & Sons, a plumbing and “Hard work deserves to be recognized, and we believe
HVAC company headquartered in Santa Rosa, California, that rewarded performance is repeated performance,”
with an office in San Anselmo. Ernie Junior (Ejay) and Chandler continued. “We don’t just say, ‘Work hard and
Donald hold management positions in the company and we’ll pay you more.’ No, your hard work is celebrated
are poised to be the fourth generation. here. It’s deeply appreciated here. Thank you.”
Despite countless, remarkable success stories among
the SGI membership last year, Ongaro & Sons proved to The History of Ongaro & Sons
be an easy selection for “Fastest Growing.” The family
business has been exploding, jumping from $7.5 Million Ernest V. Ongaro is likely smiling down from above when
in 2016 $11 Million in 2017 to $16.5 Million in 2018. It’s looking at what his namesake has become. He started the
currently on pace to hit $19 Million by the close of 2019. company in 1932, his first shop in Fairfax, California.
Ernie and Paul fondly retold how their grandparents lived
“Our incredible team has allowed us to experience this in a tiny apartment above that first shop. Grandma Anita
growth,” Ernie Ongaro, president of Ongaro & Sons, would help sort parts and pitch in every way she could.
said. “We have great people at every level of the business.
With the right people—and now the right processes in By 1938, Ernest V. relocated to San Anselmo. The
place—we still have a lot of opportunity.” company still utilizes that location to this day. The second
generation—Donald, Ernest, and Richard—joined their
“The last few years, we’ve spent a lot time working on father in the 1950s and were the ones to keep the Ongaro
the business, rather than in it,” Paul Ongaro, Secretary name synonymous with quality and integrity for the
of Ongaro & Sons, said following his brother. “If we next 30 years.
wanted it to continue to grow beyond us, to the next
generation, we also needed the right culture. We feel like Ernie, Ongaro & Sons’ current president, was the first
we’ve always been a of the third generation
place people wanted to to return to Ongaro
work, but we wanted to & Sons in the late
make it even better.” 1980s. Paul returned
thereafter.
shortly
This enhanced “Dad wanted us to
commitment to culture get some experience
that’s spurned this with another company
meteoric rise has before coming back,”
touched every aspect of Ernie shared. “He
the company, beginning wanted us to see what
when the executive their expectations
team brought all its were.” Dean and Mitch
employees together joined in the 1990s.
to construct Ongaro At the same
MANAGEMENT TEAM. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT
& Sons’ core values ROW 1 - RICK CHANDLER (GENERAL MANAGER), CHERI GOLEY (CALL CENTER MANAGER) time Ernie and Paul
and mission statement ROW 2 – ROBERTO FILICE (PLUMBING OPERATIONS MANAGER), returned, the economy
several years ago. Both JIM LEWIS (HVAC OPERATIONS MANAGER), DAVID LANGDALE (PLUMBING SALES MANAGER),
JACKIE YAHNE (ACCOUNTING MANAGER)
ROW 3 – NICK HARTMAN (HVAC SALES MANAGER), CJ CASTEEL (WAREHOUSE MANAGER) took a harsh downturn.
16 THE COMPASS | Issue 5 | 2019