The story behind Peterman’s wild growth across Indiana since brothers took over

Chad Peterman and his younger brother Tyler grew up with their dad’s business, Peterman Heating Cooling & Plumbing. Pete Peterman received at least one offer for the Greenwood-based business, but he kept it in the family and handed over day-to-day operations to his boys in 2015. He couldn’t have imagined how much and how fast the company would grow under the new generation, which had a strategy that required a fundamental change in the business. From 2016 to 2018, Peterman’s annual revenue grew 101% to $15.7 million. From 2018 to 2022, its revenue grew 560% to $88.2 million. Since 2018, its employee base has grown at roughly the same clip, from a little over 100 people to nearly 700. That’s pretty good for a company in an established industry that has been a staple of American life for at least a century.

Chad Peterman didn’t initially think he’d go into the home-services industry, but he since has become CEO and co-owner. In this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, he explains the strategy shift that led to more lucrative work and an expansion from central Indiana to most of the state. And one of the key factors in the firm’s continued growth has been its out-the-box solution—or you could call it and in-house solution—to training and retaining employees. Peterman essentially can supply itself with as many rookie technicians as it needs as it expands beyond Indiana’s borders and expects to break the eight-digit barrier for revenue.

The IBJ Podcast is brought to you by Taft.