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The History of Emke Schaab

Emke Schaab has been in Walkerton for over 55 years, originating as Jagelewski Plumbing and Heating. It was started downtown Walkerton by Ed Jagelewski, where it operated until 1979 when the shop at the top of the hill was built. Current owner, Doug Schaab, worked as a technician for Jagelewski during the late 70s and early 80s.

In 1990, Schaab and Bernie Reed bought the company from Jagelewski. In 1993, the duo decided to change the name to Reed and Schaab. Over the remainder of the decade, the company thrived and additions were made to both the service and office staffs. In 1998, Reed and Schaab joined ClimateCare causing another name change for the company — Reed and Schaab ClimateCare. During this time, the company's slogan was "Reed and Schaab, on the job, 24 hours a day."

May 2000 saw the Walkerton Water Crisis hit, and Reed and Schaab was there all summer cleaning up the town’s water supply – with help from DA Walker ClimateCare in Simcoe, Ont. The Reed and Schaab office was the centre of organization for workers involved. Our office staff dispatched and scheduled not only the ClimateCare technicians, but also the Ontario Clean Water Association and any local plumbers that were involved in the clean up. It earned us the SCOBE award for Customer Service Excellence in 2001.

There was another change in ownership in 2002, when Reed sold his share of the company to Schaab. Reed stayed on as a sales person for a few years, but in 2007 he decided to pursue other interests fulltime.

Schaab bought both Emke’s Plumbing and Arnie’s Oil Burner Service in 2004. We moved half of the office staff and technicians to Emke’s in Hanover, so that we could utilize both offices we now owned. It was this year that the company expanded its advertising to include horse-drawn sleighs and wagons in local parades and events.

Having three companies with such different names was not ideal for the Reed and Schaab family, so in July 2005 the companies were redistributed into Emke Schaab Mechanical and Emke Schaab ClimateCare. One handled strictly the Commercial side of things, while the other was developed to take care of our residential customers.

In 2007, the latest name change occurred. The two companies merged and became Emke Schaab Climate Care Inc. The main office, located at the top of the hill between Walkerton and Hanover, became the only office.

Facts about Emke Schaab