Roth Heating, based in Canby, buys Ponderosa Heating

Bill and Kathy Spezza, partners in business and marriage, were not looking for a buyer for Ponderosa Heating and Cooling, the Sisters company they started in 1988. Kory MacGregor, president of Roth Heating, Canby, Oregon, wasn’t actively seeking expansion into Central Oregon.

But conversations that started casually between the Spezzas and MacGregor became serious last September when MacGregor recognized the need for greater presence in the area. As of May 1, Ponderosa became a part of Roth Heating in a business deal that looks right for both the new and former owners.

“We began doing business in Central Oregon when Renaissance Homes, one of our largest customers, started building in Bend,” MacGregor said. MacGregor saw in Ponderosa an established business built on the same values he champions, and an opportunity to “hit the ground running. Ponderosa has the people here, and is well established both with customers and the profession.”

MacGregor, 37, has a wife and two children. He took over the Roth company from his father-in-law in 1989 when the business was going to be sold or closed. As MacGregor puts it, “I was 21, just married, and young enough and dumb enough to say ‘I can run that.’ And, it worked out.”

By coincidence, Bill Spezza’s early career included employment at Roth Heating, after he left the family-owned heating and cooling business in Portland.

What are the values MacGregor brings to his business?

“We’re not your typical heating and cooling company. We work very hard at taking good care of our customers, but also providing career paths for our employees. Without that you can’t grow; you can’t be large. You can’t attract the best people.”

Cliff Landers, the new regional manager of Ponderosa, is an example of MacGregor’s determination to provide career paths. No newcomer to the heating and cooling business, Landers has worked for Roth for four years. Landers also refers to the core values of the company as “everything we work for.”

He lists those values as professionalism, care for customers, honesty, constant improvement, fun and good times, hard work and accuracy.

MacGregor believes the acquisition “offers some real synergies for Roth and Ponderosa.” The Spezzas, who will continue working with Ponderosa, agree. But selling the business they have built up wasn’t their easiest decision.

Yet Bill Spezza said, “This sale has not knocked me out of my comfort zone. Naturally, I was a little hesitant about selling the business, but the addition of Roth’s people brings a lot of horsepower to the company. And I know that the first two customers I had when we started Ponderosa will continue to do business with Ponderosa. That means a lot.”

Kathy Spezza expanded on that thought.

“This was a little sooner than Bill and I anticipated selling our company,” she said. “But when we began looking at Roth, we knew we were looking at a company that would take care of our customers and our employees. We really feel good about handing over our company to Kory and Cliff for that reason and for the new opportunities. It’s just a good match.”

Asked if he intended to make changes in Ponderosa, Kory MacGregor replied: “Not so much changes, but more like opportunities that a larger company can provide. We will move the business and bookkeeping records to our Canby office and that will help make things run more smoothly here. It’s tough with a small business to sell something, install it, service it, bill it, supervise it and all the other things you have to do. The head office can take care of a lot of these items and Ponderosa will be able to concentrate more on customers.”

MacGregor intends to keep the local business name as Ponderosa Heating and Cooling.

“But, we will incorporate the name into our logo, as we did when we bought Eastman Heating and Cooling, in Silverton, an earlier acquisition,” he said.

Kory MacGregor has been intrigued with Sisters and Central Oregon since the time a family trip here provided one of his earliest childhood memories. He bought a vacation home in Sunriver three years ago, but says, “I avoided working over here because it was just so much fun to visit.”

MacGregor believes “long term, this region is going to grow tremendously. Go to Aspen or Vail or Sun Valley and you realize that Central Oregon still is very cheap. With what it has to offer in its two great seasons, Central Oregon is going to get very big. If the growth is done right, it still will remain a wonderful place to be. Obviously, we will be part of that growth. We’re in this for the long haul.”

Kathy Spezza said, “The company has a small-town business comfort feel. People don’t have to worry that Ponderosa will become one of those big companies where people don’t care.”