By Joanie Morris

Kannapolis Citizen

Jerry Conway has a place to live now — and it's completely separate from the place he works.

Conway owns Conway's Heating and Air and has been in business for eight years all around Kannapolis and the surrounding areas. But he was working out of his home.

Now, Conway has a new location, at 202 N. Cannon Blvd., right next to Nature Scapes. The building is something that Conway's office manager and girlfriend said they needed.

"It wasn't easy" living where you work, said Kristi Mullis. "We have a place to work, and we have a place to live. We don't have it all together anymore."

Conway said the reason they moved to the bigger location is twofold.

"We outgrew (the house) and decided to move to the big building," said Conway. In addition, he said his business is ready to grow and he is planning for the future.

Conway specializes in residential service and repair of heating, air conditioning units, gas piping and even appliance service. He also sells gas logs and can tell you if your house is heated efficiently for the cold weather.

"You can have a company come out and do a combustion analysis on your furnace," Conway said. He was recently certified to do the analysis and can do it for anyone who requests it. While in certification, Conway said the group did a test on a furnace that was supposed to be 93 percent efficient.

"It was only 51 percent efficient," Conway said. He said that is why it is important to have the test done.

"We also do service maintenance for our customers," Conway said. When a person's air conditioning or heating unit goes out, he said that's preventable. "Nine times out of 10, we can prevent failure in the coldest part of the season by doing (service maintenance)."

He recommends getting your air conditioning and heating units serviced every six months for the highest efficiency.

Conway can't wait to expand his business because he stays busy all the time. Now he wants to add new employees.

"We always stay pretty busy," Conway said. The hottest and coldest parts of the seasons are usually his busiest. "We stayed busy all summer."

When he does add employees, he said he wants to find someone who loves doing the job.

"I just love doing the work we do and I'd just like to keep people working, create new jobs," Conway said. "Just be a noticeable presence in the market."

Right now, he has three full-time employees and a part- time employee. He hopes to be able to hire more people soon.

When David Murdock builds his North Carolina Research Campus, Conway said he will definitely see some trickle down from that.

"When you add that many new jobs in the area, people are going to be looking for houses, and they are going to need skilled tradework," Conway said. "It's definitely a good thing."

At his business on Monday, Conway hosted a grand opening and ribbon cutting — the first ribbon incoming mayor Bob Misenheimer got to cut.

"We're delighted that you have this business and decided to (expand in) Kannapolis," Misenheimer said.

Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce President John Cox said that with each transition of new mayors, "the new mayor lays out a sign that says 'Open for Business.' "

Jerry Saunders was also at the grand opening on Monday. Saunders, senior director for economic development, said that when Conway asks him to help expand the business, he will be there.

"We'll provide resources and assistance to help his expansion go as smoothly as possible," Saunders said. "We tailor our experience to assist each new business' individual needs."

Conway said that will be sooner rather than later.

Conway's Heating and Air is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Conway also does emergency calls. For more information, contact the office at 704-933-5262 or for emergencies, call Conway at 704-791-6956.

Contact Joanie Morris at 704-932-3336 or jmorris@kannapoliscitizen.com.