At the core of Heritage Home Service beats the heart of the Chartier family. In 1986, brothers Craig, Steve, and Jeff Chartier founded Heritage Plumbing and Heating with nothing but a pickup truck, a handful of tools, and a burning desire to start their own company. Plumbing was in their blood and experience on their side, with years of working for their plumber grandfather, father, and uncles under their belts. “We had a dream,” Craig recalls. “We wanted to start something on our own.”
The tiny start-up business from Manchester, New Hampshire, would evolve into the successful Heritage Home Service of today. It is a flourishing family-run plumbing, heating, cooling, and electric company headquartered in Auburn. Their North Hampton location is one of six, serving New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Southern Maine.
After the founding brothers piloted the company to its success, the next generation took the helm in 2022, with Craig’s son Brad succeeding his dad as president. The younger Chartier has long been part of the business, and the transition to president was smooth, a natural passing of the torch from father to son.
Brad’s roots in the company run deep. As a boy, he delighted in the sight of his dad driving the Heritage truck. He watched the company grow and experienced its tremendous impact on the family. “There is a higher level of understanding,” he says, “when you have built a business from scratch.”
With Brad’s brothers Zach and Ty added to the mix, this business is truly a family affair. While Craig is officially retired, he remains involved with the company in an advisory capacity and cherishes the family dynamic. “I always had a vision of the company as a generational thing,” he says. “That’s why we chose the name Heritage.”
Running a family business poses unique challenges, but Craig feels the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. For this patriarch, the value of having a family business is creating a caring foundation. This foundation extends not just to family members but to employees and customers. “It is an overall mindset,” he explains. This business prioritizes caring about people over income.”
Brad considers it a great privilege to follow in his father’s footsteps and treasures the working relationship he shares with his dad. Mutual respect abounds between the two, both personally and professionally. “My dad is a dynamic leader,” he says. “It’s been easy for me to follow him because he really is a quality human being, a good boss and a great dad.”
Craig smiles at his son’s heartfelt words and adds a few of his own. “Work is such a big part of life,” he says. “We spend so much time in it. Sharing that with your children in a productive and healthy way is a huge blessing.”
Heritage Home Service shows the same respect for its customers as the family members do for each other. The business does residential work only and limits services to existing homes rather than new construction. Heritage prides itself on working directly with its homeowner customers.
Heritage is committed to prioritizing clean air, water, and energy services. The company aims to maintain comfort, improve health indoors, and lessen environmental impact. To this end, Heritage offers water and air testing and filtration, ductwork cleaning, radon mitigation systems, and energy-efficient heating and pump systems. As president, Brad strives to keep abreast of the new technology while keeping environmental concerns in mind by “staying on the greener side of things.”
Despite the company’s expansion to other states, Craig has not forgotten his New Hampshire origins. Chartiers have been born and bred here for generations, so they chose to start and build their business in their home state. For Craig, it was an obvious choice. “It’s been a New Hampshire thing–and a family thing–since the beginning.”
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“It’s been a New Hampshire thing–and a family thing–since the beginning.”
“I always had a vision of the company as a generational thing. That’s why we chose the name Heritage.”