Chester Power: Home remodeling group shows off new HQ in Chester

CHESTER >> Gov. Tom Wolf took a tour of Power Home Remodeling’s new 100,000-square-foott headquarters in the Wharf at Rivertown Wednesday as part of his “Jobs That Pay” Tour, saying don’t count out this industry as innovative.

Formed in a Wilmington, Del., apartment in 1992, Power Home Remodeling moved to the first and second floors of the former Peco building in 2011. However, it outgrew its space and took its operations up a few flights in January to the third and fourth floors, with anticipation of expanding into the fifth floor as well.

The company is one of the largest exterior home remodelers and provides windows, siding, roofing, doors, solar and insulation for residential homes. Many of their products are exclusively made for Power and are featured at BJ’s and Sam’s Clubs.

On Wednesday, Power Home executives showed Wolf their new digs.

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“They’re a big company,” the governor said, “their headquarters in Pennsylvania is getting bigger (and they’ve) located their headquarters in an area that has been left behind and is now resurrecting, revitalizing itself.”

Started by cousins Adam and Jeff Kaliner in Delaware, the company spread to offices there and in Brookhaven. Six years ago when they moved to Chester, they had 900 employees.

Asher Raphael, one of Power’s CEO’s, shared how much that has changed.

“This space serves as the epicenter for our 13 territories, more than 2,250 employees and 300,000 customers across the country,” he said. “It is an exciting time for Power, as our new office positions us for future growth – helping to drive jobs and economic impact in Pennsylvania and beyond as we open 10-15 more offices in the next five years, all of which will be supported by our headquarters.”

Among the offices Wolf visited was a gathering space for Power Home’s youth initiative. There, he met four Chester students who have been shadowing Power Home employees for almost a month.

“This opportunity gives us real life experiences ... so we can be ready and we can be prepared when it’s time for work,” Archbishop Carroll sophomore Naa’ilah Shabazz said. “It’s preparing us for the future.”

Chester Charter School for the Arts junior Tashauna Richardson said, “You get to meet new people and share your ideas.”

Before shaking hands with the governor, Cardinal O’Hara senior Keihijaa Daniels had just outlined the Walmart and Google partnership to heighten competition with Amazon.

“Google and Walmart are going to win,” said Michael Medley, a STEM Academy ninth grader.

Ten-year Power Home employee and purchasing agent Lillian Humphrey oversees the program. Having served eight years in the Army Reserves, she is also involved in the Power Veterans Initiative, which plans to hire 200 veterans this year alone.

The Chester native developed the youth program to increase exposure between the youths and the business world.

“It’s very important to know how to talk to different people from different backgrounds from different ways of life,” Humphrey said, adding that integral parts of the program include developing and reinforcing interpersonal skills, networking and shadowing different departments.

Shabazz was thankful to participate in the inaugural program.

“I’m happy that we have opportunities like this because ... we don’t get opportunities like this and people are willing to help us become better,” she said. “I hope that this opportunity leads us to become something better – and we can work here in the future.”

Both the governor and Raphael spoke of Power’s culture and employee environment.

“Our philosophy is really to be a people-first organization, finding the right types of people – meaning people of character, people who want to work for something that is bigger than themselves and part of that is creating a diverse and inclusive an organization as we can,” Raphael said.

With its explosive growth – by 2008, Power had more than $55 million in annual revenue and they anticipate reaching close to $1 billion in annual revenue in the next five years – part of their success is a heavy reliance on service.

And, the company has received high marks for its service with 97 percent customer satisfaction rates and 93 percent customer referral rates.

In addition, more than 90 percent of its senior management began at Power in an entry-level position.

For Raphael finding the right people is key, as Power plans to open 10 more territories in the next five years.

For Power, he said, that means finding “the best and the brightest and most importantly, people that are filled with goodness and want their life’s work to be about service.”

He said employees are referring their families and friends to the company as a better place to work than Google or Twitter.

“And even though it’s the home remodeling industry, that this is the place that they can have a really bright future,” he said.

Wolf agreed.

Formerly in the cabinet-making business, the governor commended Power for reconfiguring the remodeling business, which can be fragmented, into a concept that’s nationally branded.

“This is the remodeling business,” Wolf said. “A lot of people could be forgiven for saying this is not a center for innovation – it actually is.”