Atlantic County Times

Jen Pierce, co-founder and general manager of Clay's Climate Control, said when she and her husband founded the company in 2001, their goals were focused on customer experience and career opportunities for people in their community. 

She said that focus will continue after the company was acquired by Ace Hardware earlier this month.

"My husband and I, Clay Pierce, founded the company in 2001," Jen told Atlantic County Times. "Clay was doing heating and air conditioning for a living, and he and I decided to start our own company, thinking that we could kind of elevate the experience of customers in the trades and provide career opportunities for those in our community."

Clay's Climate Control is a heating and air conditioning company that offers installation and maintenance services to its local customer base. Recently, the owners expanded their offerings to include services such as generator installations and dryer duct cleaning.

When the company was founded, Jen held a second job as a pharmaceutical sales representative. She managed the company's books on the side, which was still manageable due to the company's small size at the time. 

"Clay was primarily the person who was doing all of the service, installation, and estimating work for several years, while I was handling all of the back office stuff until we grew large enough to start hiring employees," Jen said.

As she and her husband began to raise a family, they remained engaged with the business on a part-time basis. It wasn't until around 2009 that they made the decision to fully commit and immerse themselves in the business. At this juncture, they resolved to foster significant growth and expansion. To achieve this goal, they actively participated in various business groups and gained valuable insights from different associations. These experiences played a pivotal role in propelling the business' growth to where it is today. 

Since its founding, the company has grown from one truck to an entire fleet, according to its website.

Clay's Climate Control was acquired by Ace Hardware recently. The owners said they are eager to grow their business through this partnership and continue to support their local community. They bought the old headquarters of Channel 40 (the local NBC affiliate) in 2016, as noted by a Press of Atlantic City article from that year.