Loving the heating and cooling business from the get-go, Tom has been working in the HVAC industry since he was just a kid. “I got started when I was 14, working part time during the summer. I enjoyed it and after graduating from high school in 2008, I went to Midwest Technical School and graduated in 2009.”
Tom worked for a few years for Estes Heating and Plumbing out of Chatham. “Then I worked for the Secretary of State and did heating and cooling at the Capital Building before starting this business,” he added.
Deciding he wanted to strike out on his own Tom said, “I left in 2021, I resigned and went totally in with this working out of my home and a van. It was a built-from-scratch business, “he said.
This year, Tom said, “It is my 20th year in the trade. I love it, it is a passion for me. I enjoy the relationships, serving people and enjoy filling a need.”
Mitch followed a different route. After graduating from high school in 2011 he enlisted in the Army National Guard and served in the Military Police for the next six years. “TheynI worked in security and for the Department of Corrections until August of 2022 when I decided to resign at DOC and went to work and invested in the business with Tom.”
In the past Tom and Mitch have relied on word of mouth to get the news about their business out. “The reason we moved here,” Tom said, “was to get our name out.”
The name Sangchris Heating and Cooling has to do with their love of Lake Sangchris. “It is an important lake. We grew up on it and we grew up on the County Line.”
They have been renovating their new space. “We are almost done we have revised the inside and the exterior. “
While renting from owner T.J. Walker, they assisted in the renovation to meet their business needs. They moved to the location this past August. Here in town, they work with the Pawnee School district keeping their heating and cooling needs up to date.
Sangchris Cooling and Heating works with both residential and commercial clients. “We serve any heating and cooling needs,” Tom said. “We service boilers, furnaces, air conditioners. We also will install new equipment as well.”
Tom and Mitch both emphasized the importance of maintaining heating and cooling equipment to provide long life and good running utilities. “If you want it to last, preventive maintenance is the key. These units take a lot of wear and tear.”
Besides heating and cooling, Sangchris Heating and Cooling LLC also services refrigeration units as well. Covering about a 35-mile radius from Pawnee, they will travel north the Petersburg, and south to Morrisonville. “We do a lot of business in Taylorville, Virden, Girard and sometimes Farmersville,” Mitch added.
Besides Tom and Mitch, they also have two other employees. “These are guys I trained,” Tom said happy to find quality workers that share the same experience and work ethic.
Tom is licensed and has certificates in HVAC work heading up the Sangchris Heating and Cooling offering a wonderful array of experience and knowledge locally.
Involved in school activities, Tom has three children in school, and Mitch has one in school. Together they said, “We both have four kids under the age of seven.”
Besides their work, they also like old trucks with the oldest they have collected a 1949 model, and the newest a 1969. Love of their work, their family and the community come through. Mitch married a local Pawnee girl, and Tom’s wife is from nearby Kincaid. With four little kids, this keeps Tom, Mitch, and their wives running without a lot of extra time with a business to attend to, and family life as well.
Aldrich’s and their staff are excited to serve the Pawnee community and provide service for the residents. For more information, you can find them on their website at www.SangchrisHeatingandCooling.com and on Facebook as well.