Chisholm – The Early Days

Vic Chisholm started his service company in 1971 through hard work and determination. Just him – with his van – offering his customers excellent service each and every time.

Getting Started

He started volunteering for the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, and learned about heating, air and refrigeration through the Army’s program. Back in Alamance County, he completed a technical certification and started teaching others the skills he had learned.

As Vic continued to grow the business, he added employees to help him manage a growing territory. In the late 1970’s, Chisholm Service was managing contracts from Florida to the northern part of Virginia, a majority of them commercial properties.

Residential Development

Eventually, Vic found found a niche on the retail side of the business, which took off. With that portion of the business in place and growing, a residential installation division started to bloom, which led to a residential service division.

Training the Next Generation

Vic was purposeful in training his son, Mike, in all areas of the business.

He started bringing Mike to the office with him at the early age of 8 years old. The summer Mike was 14, Vic recruited him as a the newest employee installing cooling systems. Each summer thereafter, Vic would work him in a different division of the business. One summer, it was residential installation; the next summer, service; and the next, retail.

Vic gave his son an opportunity to learn every area of the business, by working it; and really, provided him a first-hand understanding of how the business worked from the ground up.

Chisholm – Continues to Grow

In 1996, Vic passed away suddenly. At 25 years old, as a Project Manager for the company, Mike had to immediately step into a bigger role – and he accepted the challenge understanding that his father had prepared him well.

“When you grow up in this business, working at it every day, you tend to get it. So even though it was a big shock emotionally, I was able to handle stepping in, because of that investment from my dad, and we’ve been blessed to be able to grow on my father’s foundation.”

In almost 30 years of running the company, Mike and his staff have nearly tripled the business.

“I feel like our team and the people we have on board have done a really good job. We have a lot of the same folks who are still here from before I took over. We have a lot of really good, smart people who have been here a long time, and we’ve brought on a lot of good, smart new people too.”

Mike Chisholm is a family man with deep roots in Alamance County. He lives and loves life with his beautiful wife, Michelle, and two children, Madison and Miller. He loves investing in the community, being a part of the neighborhood and appreciates having the opportunity to raise his family in such a great place.