Frank Northway worked for a regional HVAC company through most of the early 1980s. He was good at the work and not bad with customers, but he got tired of watching salespeople in the front office talk people into replacements their three-year-old furnaces did not need. In late 1985 he gave notice. In November 1986 he bolted a magnetic sign on the side of a used Ford E-150, set up a kitchen-table phone, and started Northway Heating & Air out of his garage in Glendale.
The first customer was a neighbor on Carrollton Avenue with a dying furnace and a heating bill she could not understand. Frank fixed her gas valve for parts and labor, charged her what he would have charged his own mother, and left her his number. She called him every winter for the next nineteen years, and her son called him after that. That's how the shop ran for the first decade: word of mouth, Carrollton-to-the-next-block, one block at a time across the north side.
By 1995 there were three vans and one part-time apprentice. By 2005 there were eight vans, a real shop on Keystone, and a dispatcher who was Frank's cousin. Dan came on full-time in 2010 after a decade of being the kid who rode along on Saturdays. In 2014 Frank handed him the keys and started showing up "only on Tuesdays." That has so far meant about three days a week, depending on the season.
Twenty-two W-2 employees. Every field tech is NATE-certified, EPA Section 608 universal, and background-checked. We don't subcontract emergency calls to whoever's available. The person who shows up at your house tonight is the same person who'll handle your spring tune-up.
Dan Northway
Owner · Since 2014
Frank's son. Came on as an apprentice in 2010, took over from his dad in 2014. Still works in the field two days a week in shoulder season because the office can wait but the August no-cool calls cannot. NATE-certified senior. EPA 608 universal.
Has turned down two private-equity acquisition offers since 2022. Plans to hand the shop to his daughter Hannah when she finishes her HVAC apprenticeship at Lincoln Tech in 2028.
Eddie Ramirez
Lead Service Tech · 12 years at Northway
Twelve years at Northway, twenty-three in the trade. NATE-certified senior, EPA 608 universal. Runs most of the difficult diagnostic calls — the ones the other shops gave up on or wanted to replace.
If you've had Northway out three times, there is a real chance Eddie has been at your house at least once. He vacuums up after himself.
Sarah Cole
Install Supervisor · 8 years at Northway
Runs the install crews. Eight years at Northway, twelve in the trade. EPA 608 universal, Carrier factory-trained, can quote you a load calc by hand if she wants to.
If you're getting a furnace or AC replaced, Sarah probably walked your basement before the trucks showed up. Her install paperwork is the cleanest in the shop.
Mike O'Brien
Dispatch · 6 years at Northway
Ex-tech who blew out his knee in 2019 and moved to the desk. Knows every truck, every tech's schedule, and which tech your house is going to like.
Mike is the voice on the other end of the 11pm emergency call. He answers on the second ring and he doesn't read from a script.
We also have a second-year apprentice — Pat Rivera — who you'll see riding along on installs. Pat does the back-strain work and watches the senior techs. Two more years and he'll be running his own calls.
We don't sell what you don't need. We don't subcontract emergency calls. We don't quote a number on the phone we won't honor in writing. We don't text you 14 follow-ups.
We don't oversell. If your eight-year-old furnace needs a $215 capacitor, the quote you sign says $215 plus the $89 diagnostic. It does not turn into a $1,400 "system overhaul" because the tech noticed your filter was dirty.
We don't subcontract. Some shops grow by recruiting 1099 referrals and dispatching them under the parent brand. We don't. Every tech who rolls up in a Northway truck is on payroll, in our uniform, with our training. If you have a problem with the work, you call us — there isn't another company in between.
We honor the quote. Number we quote is the number on the invoice. No "while we're in there" surprises. If we find something else we think you should know about, the tech tells you, you decide whether to add it, and you sign a second line on the tablet. You don't get blindsided.
We don't spam your phone. One reminder text the day before a scheduled visit and a single follow-up to confirm the work landed right. That's it. We're not going to text you about an annual tune-up nine times in February.
Apex Service Partners and two other private-equity rollups have offered to buy Northway in the last four years. Both times the answer has been no. Frank built the shop to be the kind of place his own family would call when their furnace quit. Dan plans to hand it to his daughter Hannah when she finishes her HVAC apprenticeship at Lincoln Tech in 2028. We answer to our neighbors and our crew, not to a Carlyle Group board.
That's not a marketing line. It's the reason the same people answer the phone every year, the same trucks pull up your driveway every year, and the same prices stay roughly the same year over year. Continuity is the whole point.