You can listen to this episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast by clicking here. The transcript can be read below.
Michael Barkan: 0:00
Hello, Delco. This is Michael Barkan, welcoming you to the Good Neighbor Podcast, where fans of local businesses and their neighbors come together. It’s my pleasure once again to introduce my friend and neighbor, our host, Bob Blaisse.
Bob Blaisse: 0:18
Well, thank you, Michael Barkan, for that introduction and everybody, welcome again to another episode of the Good Neighbor Podcast. The Good Neighbor Podcast, Delco, as we call it. What’s DELCO? Well, we’re coming from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the Southeast corner of Pennsylvania, lovingly referred to as DELCO, and it’s not just an abbreviation, it’s a vibe, it’s a culty kind of a thing that people in Delaware County know and have and get along with each other on, and we see it in each other and it’s starting to spread even far and wide outside the five or six county areas of the Philadelphia market. We’re in southeastern Pennsylvania, so we’re right above the state of Delaware and we’re right below the city of Philadelphia, but our podcast is throughout the world, Delco and Beyond.
Bob Blaisse: 1:03
We call it the Good Neighbor Podcast, why? Because we bring you Good Neighbor businesses. What’s a Good Neighbor business? It’s a business that actually is in its own community, being part of the community, serving the community, really serving their business, from the community, but in the process being a great neighbor of the community. And it is my pleasure today to bring to us a nominated business that came in through the podcast, through the people that are involved with the podcast, recognizing that we actually have a roofing company that is celebrating 100 years in business in the same family. So let me bring the current owner and president of O’Donnell Roofing Company to the stage, Mr. Kevin O’Donnell. Kevin, welcome to the program.
Kevin O’Donnell: 1:49
Thank you, Bob, pleasure, thank you for having me.
Bob Blaisse: 1:52
Kevin, it’s an honor because this is the first time in our history here of all these podcast episodes where we actually have a Delaware County business founded in Delaware County and servicing outside of Delaware County. But is it true, Kevin, that the O’Donnell Roofing Company has operated under the same name for 100 years in your same family?
Kevin O’Donnell: 2:14
That is correct. Yes, I’m the fourth generation owner of the company. This year was our 100th anniversary. Unsure of the exact month that my great-grandfather went into business, but sure enough, the date was always 1924, and we have the original ledger from then. It’s pretty cool.
Bob Blaisse: 2:36
So you actually have the ledger, the business ledger, showing sales or services from your great-grandfather.
Kevin O’Donnell: 2:49
Yep, yeah, so I have the ledger from my great-grandfather, it’s funny. Like the history of the company we don’t have much, like photographs. We have a lot of the internal business materials and the financials, and we have ledgers from 1924 up right until like 1940, like you know, World War II, essentially, and you know it didn’t really pick up again until late 40s, early 50s, when my grandfather took over the business, and we pretty much have everything since then.
Bob Blaisse: 3:21
So we have to talk about the O’Donnell roofer that you know best is probably your father. Is your father still involved with the company or is he with us?
Kevin O’Donnell: 3:30
Oh, he is. Yeah, so my father’s name is Larry O’Donnell. He formally took the company over in 1980. He was a foreman for my grandfather starting right around 1971. So he’s north of 50 years in the industry and, yeah, he’s definitely up there. He has a vast amount of experience in all different segments and facets of the industry.
Bob Blaisse: 3:59
Kevin, we have to look at that also in reverse that if a man like Larry O’Donnell has learned the roofing business from his father and he’s taking it over when he was a young man and he’s worked his whole career and he’s handed the keys over to a younger Kevin O’Donnell, now the president of O’Donnell Roofing Company, I have to think you were swinging a hammer at 10 years old. When did you first realize that you were going to be a roofer?
Kevin O’Donnell: 4:21
So I didn’t realize until I was 25 that that’s what I was going to do. But yeah, so you know, when I was two years old my mom caught me running up a ladder. Like you know, it was a story and a half. So I was destined to be on ladders. But my first recollection of a job site was when I was 11 or 12, something in that range. I’d work summers for my dad cleaning up trash, just like three, four hours a day. I’d bring a friend, but actually I made pretty good money all things considered.
Bob Blaisse: 4:54
And now you’re hosting and being the president of a much larger company. Kevin, I have to tell the listeners that we’re talking to the president of O’Donnell Roofing Company here and that in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, I would venture to say there’s almost no one that hasn’t heard of O’Donnell Roofing Company here, that in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, I would venture to say there’s almost no one that hasn’t seen an O’Donnell roofing truck driving around. Now, there are other roofers and there are maybe even bigger roofers, a lot of smaller roofers. But that logo that you have, I’ve got to believe it’s kind of an Irish green and it’s got a little house on it and it’s like a guy on the house. It’s a logo. But I tell you, Kevin, that when the trucks are wrapped in that logo and you must have a lot of, how many do we see in the road?
Bob Blaisse: 5:37
How many trucks do you have?
Kevin O’Donnell: 5:39
So we’re at like 33 trucks, something in that 30 to 33 range.
Bob Blaisse: 5:44
That’s a pretty big company there.
Bob Blaisse: 5:46
Okay, we have a lot of trucks, so now we’re letting the listeners know that we’re really talking to a roofing professional, that not only is a professional that owns a roofing company, but has actually grown up in a roofing company, as his father and his grandfather did, and started by his great grandfather. They’re celebrating 100 years this year and we want to talk now about what the current state of O’Donnell Roofing Company is. So we obviously know that you put roofs on houses. Let’s digress here. Do you do any commercial roofing?
Kevin O’Donnell: 6:17
We do, yeah, so you know, just to back it up a little bit. When I got back involved with the company in 2010, I came right into a role of a lead mechanic and then, you know, as a foreman, we were a small shop, four or five guys and just would jump from individual project to project to project. My father kept it simple and you know that’s how we operated. Since then, you know, I started getting into sales in 2013, 2014. As the company grew through my efforts, you know, I retained ownership.
Kevin O’Donnell: 6:55
In 2016, 2017, I became, principal owner 99% or whatever and with that our service offerings have expanded from just roofing and siding, with a strong focus on roofing, to now we offer commercial roofing services, where the commercial segment of the company is probably about 20% of revenue. So that considerable amount of commercial is probably about 20% of revenue. We do windows, doors, a lot of siding, exterior millwork and, of course, like our focus in roofing was always on the specialty work, the slate, copper tile, historical restoration so we kind of do it all.
Bob Blaisse: 7:37
Yeah, well, it’s interesting because some contractors try to do roofing and yet when you’re a roofer that does it all, you’re essentially a contractor of many things. So we heard windows and I’m sure that involves somebody saying, hey, I want to have a window on the roof now. I never could have one. Can you put a skylight in? You probably do that. That’s more of a contractor carpentry work involved and putting on a roof is a little different than just taking off a roof.
Bob Blaisse: 8:04
You know meaning that you’re going to find things when you take a roof off. So I think part of the trust factor of a good roofer is that when you come to see my roof, there’s probably things that you can see right away, but there might be things you can’t see and yet you might suspect. So when you quote a new roof, it’s inclusive of taking the old roof off, putting a new roof on and maybe even fixing certain things you see, like soffits have problems or there’s wood moldings and stuff that need to be repaired. But, Kevin, how’s that work when somebody is putting all their trust in the roofing company that’s going to come and solve their problems or put a new roof on, but you don’t even know what you’re going to find until you get the roof off sometimes.
Kevin O’Donnell: 8:50
So that’s a big part of the business and really I think it’s a big differentiator from us to the other roofing contractors locally and outside of the local market in that our capabilities are vastly beyond just that of roofing.
Kevin O’Donnell: 9:05
So when we visit the house for a consultation to inspect the roof, determine if it needs to be replaced, we’re not just looking at the roof itself. We’re looking at the building envelope as a whole and particularly the attic performance in regards to ventilation to ensure that the roof we sell you lasts the anticipated lifespan for asphalt shingles, 25 to 30 years. In regards to the things that could come up during a project, our experience is such that we are very good at setting expectations, and I think that’s something that a lot of contractors miss is that they don’t set clear expectations. It’s never fun to go to a client and tell them that they need to spend 30 percent more on the project to replace all the plywood. So we try to avoid those situations like the plague, right? We don’t want to have that conversation. So generally we are out in front of that, and we set the tone. In the worst case scenario, expect to pay this, and it is what it is. You know, I have to know that when we leave a job, that it is done to my satisfaction.
Bob Blaisse: 10:18
Well, that’s it. That Kevin, that is the success. You just told the story of why you’re successful. Because what homeowners want is a price, and they would like it. Please let it be that price. No surprises. Now they can’t. They know there might be something that comes up, but then, if there is something, they want to have the trust in the first place with this, this roofing professional, and know that I can see the damage. You’re right. I have to be fair to you, Mr. Roofer. How much more is it going to cost? And I’m sure at that point you didn’t want them to be too overly surprised. So the cost is an honest price. At that point you want them to be able to get out and free and clear this job.
Bob Blaisse: 10:54
But when that success happens whether there was no added cost or whether it comes in really close that’s really where the referrals come. And I think the natural effect of a roofer referral is that I was really worried that I was going to have no roof overnight, or, you know, they weren’t going to put it on so quick that it was going to rain, or or they weren’t going to put it on the right way, it was going to be shoddy work, or they were going to upsell me. When they go away satisfied, that’s really what people want to talk about this trusted roofer that they have found. And my experience, Kevin, and just in Delaware County, seeing your trucks around. I see them when I’m driving in Chester County. I see them when I’m in Montgomery County. I don’t know if you get up as far as Bucks, but you get into the city of Philadelphia.
Kevin O’Donnell: 11:35
Sure, yeah, we cover Philly Metro, as well as the surrounding counties, you know.
Bob Blaisse: 11:41
You ever find yourself going over the border into Delaware?
Kevin O’Donnell: 11:44
Yeah, so we’ll do a little work in, you know, northern Delaware, Hockesson, outside of Wilmington.
Bob Blaisse: 11:50
Greenville, yep.
Kevin O’Donnell: 11:51
And then we do drift, you know, down into Jersey, south Jersey. You know we’ll go right over to Bridge and Malka Hill and Haddonfield, those areas, but as well as South Jersey as far as Cape May.
Bob Blaisse: 12:01
So we’re talking to Kevin O’Donnell, the current owner and president of O’Donnell roofing company. They’ve been in business since 1924, and if you’d like to read their story and see the documents from those times and who the other O’Donnell owners were in four generations, you can go to their website. It’s O’DonnellRoofingCo.com you’ll see it all. It’s all there, and you’ll see all the services that O’Donnell Roofing Company provide. Kevin, there’s one element of roofing that I noticed on your website that we haven’t talked about. It’s people who want to have a very specialized roof that might also have solar cells. I see this a lot these days and I’ve actually seen on your trucks sometimes. I don’t know if it was one of the trucks or whatever, but is your, is your company really all in on solar now?
Kevin O’Donnell: 12:56
Yeah, so we always, well my dad got into solar in the early 2000s, so this was, you know, kind of the cutting edge of the industry. And you know, in 2006 is when he started another company called Rooftop Solar Solutions. So we operated that as its own independent solar entity, not doing many jobs. It was always more for the custom application, I guess you’d say, with some of our existing client base, so I never really focused on it in the early 2010s, when I was kind of growing up in O’Donnell Roofing and learning how to sell and deciding to grow the business. So what happened, though?
Kevin O’Donnell: 13:41
With the demand increasing, I started a separate entity called O’Donnell Solar, who it’s a small shop, but we’re growing. I mean, we’ll grow almost 100% from last year to this year, and some of the new products that are out in the solar industry are incredible, and one product in particular is a Swiss product. It’s a solar shingle called SunStyle, and it’s an actual fully integrated system, meaning the solar panels are the roof right, so similar to Tesla. However, it’s a much more robust system and application and it’s actually built to last. So it takes a very talented roofing contractor in conjunction with a solar company to even install a product like this so we are naturally the best fit. for the solar technologies
Bob Blaisse: 14:37
You’re not just installing the solar technologies, but you’re helping the customer learn how, what that really means, whether it’s putting the power into batteries or backloading the power to their local utility company and so you’re really teaching the customer sometimes what it can mean for solar and what the efficiencies can bring in a payback for putting solar on your roof, and that’s an important thing. As utility costs keep going up, it’s another reason to talk to O’Donnell Roofing Company. Let me give out the phone number, Kevin, because there might even be people that even outside the five county area here in Southeastern Pennsylvania might want to give you a call because they they want to learn or they want to pay for you to even drive out to New Jersey to do their roof. The phone number for O’Donnell Roofing Company is 610-897-7495. And, as I mentioned, a great website, Kevin, celebrating the 100-year anniversary this year. Everybody can go to O’Donnell Roofing Company’s website. It’s O’DonnellRoofingCo.com, and you’ll see the the history there.
Bob Blaisse: 15:42
Kevin, can I ask another thing that’s related to your business? It’s a family business. You have, uh, 30 trucks. You probably have a lot of um employees. Is it a family company? Does everybody kind of get used to seeing O’donnell Roofing, um, not only driving the roads, but they know it’s a family company of a lot of employees and their families that are really you’re helping to make. You’re really employing a lot of people, Kevin, and that’s a major part of being a big business owner.
Kevin O’Donnell: 16:11
Yeah, I mean, it’s one of my you know, my favorite things is to help my staff and you know, as part from the family part of things, yeah, I think pretty much everyone knows it’s a family company. This is kind of what we and we are a family. I mean there is, you know, especially like my management team. We are very close.
Bob Blaisse: 16:30
I saw you advertise last year for something for Christmas, and it was bringing the O’Donnell family to the families that didn’t have toys or something. It was a toy drive that you hosted, I think.
Kevin O’Donnell: 16:41
Correct, yeah, toy drive, yeah, and we were, we were a sponsor, uh for, and we did a collection uh, it’s over in Springfield and uh, we did it the last couple years and uh, yeah, my team shows support for that and we are just, you know, everyone on my team is all in and, uh, you know, I’ve never met people who are now very close to me that care so much, and that’s, you know, something that I pat myself on the back on is the fact that I was able to, you know, generate these humans and bring them into my life and then train them the way I want, and they are just exceptional people.
Bob Blaisse: 17:13
I bring that up, Kevin, because a successful businessman knows how to find good people and then knows how to keep them where they wouldn’t stay.
Bob Blaisse: 17:21
And it does seem like your growth, not only in assets and number of customers, but in family, employee members, that kind of thing. And this is important for anybody that might be listening to this podcast. You know there’s a deep fear of contractors. There’s maybe even more of a fear of roofers because there’s a trust factor.
Bob Blaisse: 17:40
And why is it so fearful?
Bob Blaisse: 17:41
Because our home is really our most trusted location, our safest location, and we’re inviting someone to come in and give us advice about one of the most important domiciles in our life, our home, where our children are. And so there has to be trust and there has to be an ability to really kind of get your money’s worth from a roofing company that’s not going to overcharge and they’re not going to misrepresent, and then they’re going to be able to explain the things that you need to know, whether it’s solar or certain kind of siding that you’re going to get or if the mold is discovered, that you can trust the person that’s going to tell you there’s a problem that you have to address. Kevin, this is what makes businesses successful, I’m sure, and if you can be in business 100 years and you can be managing this business now as successfully as you are, I’m sure that this podcast episode and every other thing that you’re doing is just going to help the business grow for another 100 years. And it’s amazing to have a story like this on our podcast.
Kevin O’Donnell: 18:39
That’s the goal, Bob. I think we have a lot to offer the public and our services. We know exactly what to charge for our services no more, no less. We’ve been in business for 100 years. The goal is to be in business for another 100. And we are not the cheapest in the market. We’re certainly not the most expensive. It’s all relative to who people are getting quotes from at the time. But we know exactly what it takes to stay in business and that’s how we price our jobs, no more, no less.
Bob Blaisse: 19:14
And that’s what probably makes you the best. Very grateful for you being on the episode today on the program. And, Kevin, let me just say that, as a businessman who provides something for the community homes, individuals, people that live in homes, you really are a good neighbor business, and we want to thank you for being a good neighbor business in the Delaware County and beyond area. Thanks for being a guest today on the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Kevin O’Donnell: 19:36
Much appreciated, Bob. Thank you very much.
Michael Barkan: 19:37
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Bob Blaisse. This is Michael Barkan inviting everyone to get on the Good Neighbor team hosted by Bob Blaisse. This is Michael Barkan inviting everyone to get on the Good Neighbor team. Nominate your favorite local business to be featured on an upcoming episode by going to gnpdelcocom or by calling Bob at 610-557-3745.
