Family and locally owned since 1961
Our story since 1961: The Family That Treats You Like Family
Jacobs and Rhodes has changed hands a handful of times in six decades. The shop on Clearwater Ave, the name on the truck and the way the crew treats a customer have not.
The history
From a one-man shop in Richland to Clearwater Ave
Every owner in this list kept the name. Larry Jacobs started it, Bob Rhodes put his name beside Larry’s, and the people who came after have all been careful with it.
1961
to 1963
Larry Jacobs relocates from Portland and opens Jacobs Heating in what is now the Allied Arts building in Richland.
1963
to 1970
Fulton and Lee Dean join, and the shop becomes Dean-Jacobs Heating. It relocates to Kennewick, eventually settling at the Clearwater location in the late '70s. Fulton Dean dies in an airplane accident, and Lee Dean starts his own company.
1971
to 1976
Bob Rhodes joins Larry, and the company becomes Jacobs and Rhodes. In 1976 the two part ways: Larry continues, and Bob goes on to manage the hardware store in downtown Kennewick.
1976
to 1982
Larry builds the company into the premier heating and cooling contractor in the Tri-Cities. In 1982 he retires and sells to his friend Jack White and partner Les Krupke.
1982
to 1992
Jack White and Les Krupke run Jacobs and Rhodes alongside Magnum Electric. In 1992 they split when Jack becomes ill, and Les continues Jacobs and Rhodes.
1992
to 2012
Les Krupke operates Jacobs and Rhodes for the next twenty years, until he retires in 2012.
2012
to 2023
Les retires, and the company is sold to Jeff and Carrie Wamboldt. Jeff comes from HVAC wholesale, where he was a Territory Manager for Lennox. In March 2023 the business is sold to Gary and Jake Lysher.
2023
to present
Gary and Jake Lysher carry the name forward from the shop at 4825 W. Clearwater Ave in Kennewick. The company marked its sixty years with a 1961 to 2021 logo, and it still answers to the same description: family.
Vision and mission
What the company says it is for
Vision
To provide the best indoor air experience for comfort and health.
Mission
To build long-term relationships with our customers by providing customized HVAC offerings with extraordinary service supported by cutting-edge technology and expert experience.
Values
Air is our business.
Customer Service
Customer service is the first of the company's three stated values, and the reason the vision reads the way it does.
Integrity
No hard sell happens in any of our discussions.
Satisfaction Guaranteed
Every new install and all commercial work carries a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee: “If you’re not satisfied, we’ll fix it for free!”
What sixty years adds up to
Nine thousand systems and a crew that knows them
Jacobs and Rhodes has installed more than 9,000 heating and cooling systems in the Tri-Cities and has spent over six decades installing Daikin and Lennox residential and commercial systems. The crew brings 110+ years combined job experience to a job: skilled, factory-trained, and EPA certified technicians and installers, who service all brands, not just the ones we sell.
Licensed, Bonded & Insured · ELECTRICAL/HVAC ROC#JACOBRI860DP · GENERAL ROC#JACOBR*342LF. Everything the company installs sits behind that licence and the satisfaction guarantee above. To meet the people behind it, start with the team, or see the services they do every day.
Big Red and Ted the Tin Man
Big Red is the famous Jacobs and Rhodes truck: a vintage red-and-cream Ford F-100 that stands outside the Clearwater shop and has rolled in the Christmas Parade. Ted the Tin Man is the company mascot, and Ted’s Comfort Club is the preventative-maintenance plan.
See where Big Red has been on the community page.
Keep reading
- Meet the team
The owners, the office, the field supervisors and the technicians, by name.
- We love our community
Parades, home shows and Friday nights where Big Red and the crew showed up.
- What we do
Installs, repair, maintenance, indoor air quality, fireplaces and light commercial.