McAfee Heating & Air Conditioning Wins BBB Torch Award

McAfee Heating & Air, a Kettering-based heating and air conditioning company, is pleased to announce that they have been selected as the recipient of the 2018 Better Business Bureau (BBB) Torch Award. This is the 10th year the BBB of Dayton and the Miami Valley has honored companies for their outstanding example of ethical business practices.

McAfee Heating & Air formally received its award at a dinner ceremony held on Tuesday, May 8 at Sinclair Community College David Ponitz Center. Only 8 other businesses have previously been selected for the Torch Awards since its inception in 2010. Past Torch Award recipients include the Danis Building Construction Co, Kettering Health Network, Wright-Patt Credit Union, Aileron, Standard Register, Teradata Corporation, Dayton Power and Light Company, and Bob Ross Buick-GMC & Mercedes Benz.

 “I am both honored and humbled to accept the prestigious Dayton Better Business Bureau Torch Award. To join a list of past recipients whom I deeply admire and respect, we consider this award a responsibility and a personal commitment to continue serving our customers, our employees, and our community. Helping children in the Miami Valley is a longstanding passion of mine as well as promoting and furthering the Dayton community by strengthening small business growth. The torch will not flicker while entrusted to McAfee”, said Gregory K. McAfee, President of McAfee Heating and Air Conditioning.

Through the years, the BBB’s torch has been the symbol of guidance and enlightenment as consumers and businesses strive to interact in a trustworthy and ethical marketplace. The local Torch Award is dedicated to the legacy of great Miami Valley business pioneers, such as John Patterson, Wilbur and Orville Wright, Charles Kettering, Colonel Edward Deeds and most recently, Clay Mathile. It was through their ingenuity, leadership, generosity and mentorship to others the Miami Valley has stood the test of time and recreated itself again and again.

McAfee Heating and Air Conditioning stands apart in its industry as a different kind of heating and air-conditioning company.  Much of this can be attributed to the leadership and example of its Founder and President Gregory K. McAfee. Having served in the US Marine Corps, Greg grew accustomed to the admirable traits such as integrity, promptness and discipline.

Beginning his business in 1990 from his home in Beavercreek, Ohio, Greg grew his customer base by cold-calling (“Hanes Criss- Cross Directory” for those of you that recall), and walking into store-fronts, asking the owners if they needed maintenance on their heating and/or cooling system.

After turning down several inquiries for air duct cleaning, Greg decided it was time to start offering this service. The first air-duct cleaning vehicle was purchased in 1993. In the mid-90’s, he was able to build a small garage behind his Beavercreek home that would be split in half…half office, half warehouse. Although the garage was kept impeccably clean and neat, it was not the ideal “store-front” location Greg dreamt of. Customers were not encouraged to stop-in, although there were the occasional visitors. For this reason, everything was delivered to our customers.

Later in the 1990’s, Greg purchased land situated in the Kettering Corporate Center, on Hempstead Station Drive.  Not long after that, construction began on the 11,000 square foot facility. It was also during this time that the business really began to narrow their focus, offering only the products and services in which they specialized. Their niche became residential retrofit, forced-air system service and repair, along with air duct cleaning and indoor air quality products geared towards helping homeowners and their families breathe easier. McAfee Heating and Air began to heavily market the “8-8 same great rate” campaign, and soon became known area-wide as the “8-8 guys”.

To receive the Torch Award, the BBB evaluated McAfee Heating and Air Conditioning on four major criteria:
•Management Practices, including training programs, positive employee relations and benefits and prevention of workplace injury and environmental harm
•Customer/Vendor/Supplier/Shareholder Relations, covering quality measures, payment and credit reports, and feedback from customers, vendors and/or suppliers
•Marketing/Advertising/Communications Sales Practices, including evidence of ethical promotional efforts and codes of ethics used by sales personnel
•Reputation with Industry and Community, including recognition and compliments from others in the community and industry and work with charitable organizations
Knowing their niche, their customers, and how to serve people, Greg and the McAfee team became very focused on what they do best. Through integrity, hard work, and dedication to the pursuit of total customer satisfaction, McAfee catapulted to number one in the Miami Valley residential market.