Powell Home Improvements, a family-owned and operated home improvement business in Oneonta, is continuing to build on more than half a century of home remodeling.
Located at 219 River St., the company was founded 54 years ago as The Powell Company. Today, the company employs eight people and has been managed since 2013 as a partnership by Jeff Powell, Tom Tolley and Roger Sutliff.
“We purchased the business from my dad,” Powell said, when his father and mother retired. “I am the only Powell left.”
The company specializes in roofs, decks, exterior remodeling, kitchens, bathrooms, additions, windows and doors.
“We are a full-service remodeler,” Powell said.
Powell tracks income and expenses as well as handles marketing and customer service. Tolley gathers the prices and supplies all work estimates. Sutliff acts as the chief operating officer.
“We don’t look at ourselves as contractors,” Powell said. “We are problem solvers. That is the attitude we take toward every project.”
As a residential and light commercial contracting company, Powell can gut an old kitchen and build a new one. The company built a two-level deck for a homeowner in Cooperstown, overlooking Otsego Lake. The deck required a retaining wall to support the weight of an eight-person hot tub that sits on the lower deck. The deck also sports a fire pit.
“You can park a car on it,” Powell said emphasizing the strength of the deck.
Cultivating loyal customers
Customer satisfaction is important to Powell. The company’s philosophy is to leave a home in better shape than the way they found it. Employees will rake leaves and collect debris such as nails, shingles or other building materials.
Referrals and word-of-mouth advertising are important to the business.
“The smartest thing (we’ve done) was staying local and focusing on quality,” Powell said.
He said that asks customers lots of questions before any work begins.
“Do you want more storage space? Less storage space?” he said. “We are not order takers.”
Mari Muller, a longtime customer, said that as she and her husband have aged, she asked Powell to convert their bath into a walk-in shower.
When a shingle blew off her roof some years ago, Muller called Powell on a Sunday, and he paid her a visit the same day, she said. After replacing the couple’s roof, Powell has completed many other projects for the Muller family.
Muller said another business called her to solicit her business, and she hired Powell instead.
Looking to hire good people
Powell focuses on customers within a one-hour drive radius of Oneonta. According to the company’s website, that covers Otsego, Chenango, Delaware, Broome, Schoharie, Sullivan and Ulster counties.
“We usually complete one project every other week,” Powell said.
The company’s digital billboard frequently runs “help wanted” advertisements. Powell hires construction workers and carpenters for $25-$30 per hour.
“We are always looking for good people,” he said. “To find one good employee, you need to hire 10.”
“Courtesy and politeness are the two most important traits in employees,” Powell said. Clean-up and conscientiousness are a must. “People remember that,” he said.
Powell had an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau, listed under The Powell Company, as of Friday, March 6.
The company also has won awards in The Daily Star’s Best of the Best readers’ choice contest, coming out on top in categories including roofing from 2009 to 2018, window replacement contractor in 2007 and 2009, business website in 2011 and home contractor from 2010 to 2016 and in 2020.
The principals of the company also share an appreciation of what they call “dad jokes,” Powell said.
The digital sign often carries jokes which Powell says build awareness for the business. His favorite joke is, “My wife asked me to clear the table. … I needed a running start but I made it.”