Jumping On the Progressive Heating and Air Evolution

Nestled in the heart of Newnan, Georgia, Progressive Heating, Air, and Plumbing stands tall as a beacon of reliability and innovation in the realm of HVAC solutions. With a steadfast commitment to quality service and cutting-edge technology, this family-owned business has transformed how residents experience comfort in their homes and businesses for three decades.

We first shone our High-Performance HVAC™ spotlight on Progressive in November 2017, 23 years after owner Greg Wallace, with $1,000 and a pickup truck first opened his doors as an independent contractor. In 2017, Wallace began jumping on the High-Performance HVAC approach to testing, measuring, and diagnosing HVAC systems throughout his service area.

At the time, the company was grossing around $5 million in residential and light commercial sales. Much of that revenue came from large custom home construction projects.

From the beginning, Wallace says that staying on top of changing technology and ahead of the changes in his marketplace was part of his strategy, which meant focusing on education and training. He doesn’t remember exactly when he was introduced to the concepts behind system performance, but he did and joined National Comfort Institute (NCI) in 2014.

And that changed everything.

In our original Spotlight, Wallace says they were in the process of turning Progressive around and focusing on testing and measuring airflow, static pressures, and more on nearly every system they encountered. To do that, he sent his entire service and installation team through NCI classes and got them certified.

It wasn’t easy. But Wallace was persistent, consistent, and focused. He saw what system performance did for his customers and his bottom line.

The Progressive Evolution

Seven years after that Spotlight story, Wallace says the company is celebrating their 30th Anniversary and aims to hit $10.5 million in sales. It’s been a rough start this year (2024), but he sees them overcoming it and hitting close to home on that goal.

“If you want to survive in this industry,” he says, “you can’t let things like a warm winter or other weather situations rule your business. You must plan, prepare for it, and set yourself up for success.”

He explains that he had to change his approach to internal and external systems as the company grew. He says that they now do air upgrades and duct renovation work on nearly every new installation project, which has positively impacted their profits.

Today, the company has 38 employees, nine service vans, one plumbing truck (he’s working on adding another soon), and four installation trucks. They built and now use a new training room with working HVAC equipment and ductwork. He says, “We can
create situations and show the techs how to test, measure, and find the problems. Then they can go into the field and practice what they learn,” Wallace shares.

“Our biggest change since 2017 is that the high-performance approach is now second nature to us. If anyone on our field team doesn’t understand duct work performance and hasn’t trained in how we approach systems here at Progressive, they won’t be working on service and installations. We’ll let them do maintenance for existing customers.”

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