WARREN, Ohio – What began in 2020 as a plumbing, excavating, waterproofing and drain company has now branched out into providing heating, ventilation and air conditioning services for customers across the Mahoning Valley.
AK Water Works celebrated the launch of its new HVAC division Wednesday at its location at 4248 N. River Road in Howland.
“We were getting a lot of feedback from our customers,” said Alex Mantalis, who along with his wife, Kelly, started the business six years ago. “They would ask us what the next thing was that we were going to do.” It had also earlier started a fire and water restoration and construction division within AK.
The answer was adding HVAC to the already expanding portfolio of services at AK, Mantalis said. He and Kelly partnered with another husband and wife team, Michael and Vanessa Papalios, to create the new division.
Mantalis said customers for approximately two years have suggested that AK explore HVAC services. “We finally took the leap and did it.”
AK’s new HVAC division provides installation, sales and maintenance for both residential and commercial accounts, he said. The company serves the residential market across Trumbull, Mahoning and Columbiana counties but expands its footprint for commercial customers.
The service has been in place approximately one week, and AK has already performed two installations, Mantalis noted.
“We’re very excited about the growth that we have now,” added Kelly Mantalis. “We employ over 50 people and have 30 vehicles out on the roads.” The new division would bring in four additional vehicles to the fleet, she said.
Michael Papalios, Kelly Mantalis’ cousin, said AK’s expansion into the HVAC market provided a great opportunity to become involved with an expanding company.
A decision was made to acquire Valley Mechanical Solutions, a local family-owned business whose former owner, Gary Davis, would head up and manage AK’s HVAC business. “I’ve known Gary, so we thought it would be a great opportunity to bring him here and add HVAC services,” Papalios said.
He and his wife, Vanessa, had been discussing what their next business venture would be and received a call from Alex and Kelly suggesting a partnership in the HVAC business.
“We saw how successful they’ve been with the AK brand – the plumbing brand, the restoration brand – and how they’ve grown it,” she said.
Michael – who has a small business and real estate background – said he anticipates the market to be strong in the near-term of HVAC services, and the business fits well with other AK divisions. “It’s been in the works for about six months,” he said.
Kelly Mantalis said the vision is to create a “one-stop shop” for these types of services. The company has also attracted additional attention from its high-profile billboards in the Valley, featuring an animated rendering of their pet dog, Jack.
“We started off with residential, and as we were moving into the new construction division, we saw areas where we could bid on more than one thing,” she said. “Our vision was to be a one-stop, from the drain cleaning to restoration, and now adding HVAC.”
And AK isn’t ruling out expanding into other business ventures, she said.
“Everybody’s going to have to wait and see what’s up next,” she noted. “We have a couple of ideas in the air, but nothing concrete yet.”
Pictured at top: From left are Alex and Kelly Mantalis with their dog, Jack, and Michael and Vanessa Papalios, partners in AK Water Works’ HVAC division.