Decatur Times

Keith Jackson, founder and general manager of Jackson Plumbing, Heating & Cooling, said he founded the company at age 24 and and has grown it since then to the point where it was acquired by Ace Hardware earlier this month.

"In 1987, at 24 years old, I founded Jackson Plumbing Incorporated," Jackson told Decatur Times. "We plumbed new houses and I had no clue about anything except for how to plumb a house. No clue about business, no clue about how to price, none of that stuff and so I wound up working doing that and working for 10 years in a General Motors factory. I worked third shift, 11 to 7:30, and then I plumbed houses during the day. I would never recommend that to anybody, but then in 1996, I quit the factory job and went full time into the plumbing trade and my wife taught school. Thank God she had a steady income coming in."

Jackson's interest in plumbing started at a young age. With six children in the family and working a rotating third shift, Jackson's father took on plumbing work as a side job. He even volunteered to plumb their church building when it was constructed, which led to people reaching out for his plumbing services. Jackson himself started assisting with plumbing work at around the age of 10, continuing through his school years, including high school. Afterward, his father took a break from plumbing, and Jackson went to college, but he still always harbored the ambition of establishing his own plumbing business. 

Since initially founding Jackson's plumbing in 1987, it has gone through many groups of employees and has grown multiple times. Jackson points out that the company has grown sevenfold since 2015.

The company originally started by doing construction on residential homes and commercial plumbing. In 2002, it began providing residential plumbing services, along with some new construction. HVAC services were added in 2016, and in 2021 electrical services were added. Additionally, in 2018, Jackson purchased a drain cleaning and septic pump company.

In August of 2023, Jackson Plumbing, Heating, & Cooling was acquired by Ace Hardware, according to a press release. In the release, Jackson noted that he's excited to partner with Ace, as they share the same values, with customer satisfaction being their top priority. He also mentioned that Ace can help to bring Jackson's service and expertise to even more people.