Photography by Travis Carroll In 1985, Joan Struckhoff persuaded her husband Fran to purchase the pool division of the company for which she worked. At the time, Fran was working in sales in a different industry. “I said, ‘I really want to do this, but I’m going to need some help,’ ” says Joan Struckhoff….
When Noel Conley, Jr., went to college, he took a job working for a swimming pool company. He says he graduated, moved away and got a “real job.” But it wasn’t long until Conley found himself back in north Texas, back in the swimming pool business and giving back to his community. “I had worked…
Rick Woemmel left his computer-science job and got into the pool business because he didn’t want to sit behind a computer and a desk all day. “Now I sit behind a computer and a desk all day,” Woemmel says, which shows just how much the world and the industry have changed since he opened Bi-State…
Mike Giovanone feels old. The president and CEO of Concord Pools & Spas knows all the clichés of saying his company “functions like a family.” But it just so happens some of those platitudes are simply true at Concord, where many of his employees share bloodlines and last names. “My corporate attorney used to work…
Tom Cucinotta never could have envisioned the popularity that came with winning the 2012 Pleatco Perfect PoolGuy award. For the owner of Cucinotta Pool Service in Lake Worth, Fla., it’s been an influx of recognition both in face and name: magazine and radio interviews, and speaking engagements. It started 16 years ago when Cucinotta and…
Photography by Rodrigo mendez What is Mari Lange’s worst nightmare? Being strapped to a desk at a nine to five. “I’m just not one of those people who can sit and do nothing,” Lange, owner of Algae Eaters Pool Service, says. “I’m not a clock-watcher, I have to move all the time.” And she certainly…
Photography by Rodrigo mendez In 1994, a 27-year-old Todd Starner and his younger brother Jeff sat across the kitchen table from their father, Richard, asking for money. Eyeing a motorcycle? A vacation? Debt relief? Hardly. The brothers wanted to become entrepreneurs and needed $10,000 to buy a 50-pool service route from their retiring boss, Donnie…
Colley’s Pool & Spas It’s a good problem to have. “We’re gaining work every year,” says Christian Robichaud, service manager at Colley’s Pool & Spas. “We’re putting in a lot of pools. We’re closing and opening a lot of pools. We would love to have more help if we could.” Robichaud and Bill Fischer, retail…
Postorino Pool has morphed from mom-and-pop pool service company to well-known local business photos by Bella Foto Photography More than 30 year ago, Tom Postorino, owner of Postorino Pool, realized he was tired of cold Wisconsin winters. After a trip to Arizona for a wedding, Tom began to ponder relocating to the sunny state. So…