The Loop Newspaper - Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide

Local contractor and hometown favorite, John the Plumber has been hired to complete the final plumbing projects at the Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley Medical Center. John Nelson, company owner, is honored to be recognized for his professionalism and reputation.

"Being chosen as Small Business of the Year last year was truly a proud moment," he says. "Working at the hospital is also a great honor plus it's exciting for us to be part of finishing up something that is so important to my family and the community."

For a business that was, until just a few years ago, a one-man shop, this is an exciting project and it takes an entire team to make it happen. Sarah Rose, co-owner and John's wife, comments, "When I say that we couldn't do this by ourselves, I'm not kidding! If not for the great plumbing technicians that we have along with our amazing office staff, there's just no way we could even attempt projects such as completing the hospital." She added, "John and I had some plans for growth but it's happened much more quickly than we anticipated which means we've had some growing pains along the way. We have some wonderful staff in the office helping us come up with a 'Blueprint for Success,' as we call it, so that we can minimize those growing pains and provide even better customer service."

John and Sarah both agree that no matter what big projects come their way, individual property owners will still be their primary focus. John elaborates, "In the industry it's called 'service work.' That's your everyday, run-of-the-mill, plumbing projects or homeowner emergencies versus new construction or big remodeling projects. We can do it all but we've purposely chosen to keep our focus on the individual properties, be it owner occupied or tenant occupied. They are just as important as the big projects. Those customers have been loyal to us through the years and we never want to forget that."

That doesn't mean they aren't still looking to do some more growing in the near future.

"As Tehachapi and the outlying areas continue to grow, we want to be there for everyone who calls us," Sarah said.

To handle this growth they have plans to expand their office space out of their home and into a building that can accommodate all their office staff in one place. "Really it's more to provide one central location to run the back office work and have employee meetings. We're super excited about getting everything set up."

Does this growth mean they'll be expanding their workforce?

"We're definitely looking to add a few technicians to our team," John said. "Plus," he added, "we have some exciting news that we'll be ready to announce in a few more weeks and we'll need some more help then."

Stay tuned to find out what these changes will be for John the Plumber and the community!

John the Plumber can be reached at (661) 823-8031 or (760) 373-7050.