Alle-Kiski Businesses: Next Family Generation Leads Albert L. Bauer Plumbing   

by Steve Myers
July 01, 2006

The next generation of the Bauer family has taken the reins of Albert L. Bauer Plumbing, Inc. of New Kensington and is ready to expand the business. Daniel Bauer, son of Albert L. Bauer, took over the business a few years ago and the business is doing well. His dad started the business in 1978 and built it on quality work. Dan is now building the firm's reputation on quality, dependability and reliability.

You would think someone with a Bachelor's degree in psychology and a Master's in counseling psychology wouldn’t know anything about plumbing. Even though he taught at Beaver County Community College and then went into corporate Human Relations he knows a lot more about plumbing than most think. That’s because he had a good dad who began to train him early in life. Dan grew up with his dad’s business that operated out of the family garage. He remembers pipe being delivered and set in the front yard. When he was old enough his dad put him into fieldwork. In high school Dan learned the business side by stamping invoices, doing inventory counts, numbering vendors, helping with the phone and other office tasks.

All the early training paid off when it came time for his dad to retire. His father lost his wife to an early death and he was reaching his mid-sixties. He talked with Daniel and his family about transferring the business and it was agreed for Dan to buy the business and take over. He joined the firm in 2003 and took a year to work with his dad, get up to date on the business and meet with employees and listen to what they had to say.

Albert L. Bauer Plumbing, Inc. has grown steadily since it’s early days as a one-man operation. Today there are 20 full time and six seasonal employees out in the field in 13 vans. His dad, Albert, was a plumber employed by a previous plumbing and heating division of Ryan Homes. He went into the Army during the Vietnam conflict and served in Europe. Upon returning home he found the division had been closed. That began a career as a plumbing subcontractor to Ryan Homes. It was from the subcontractor business that Albert L. Bauer Plumbing evolved.

Today Albert L. Bauer Plumbing still serves the home building business by subcontracting plumbing on new homes. Ryan Homes, the 10th largest homebuilder in the country, is a major customer along with other homebuilders. Dan Bauer told us that he is planning to expand the business to include residential service calls and repairs. They have been doing a small percentage of these, but he would like to grow this side of the business in the months to come. He believes the 28 years of quality with dependability and reliability qualities of their work will earn the trust of homeowners who often have trouble getting plumbers in to do needed work. Dan said they also work with those who build their own homes.

There are more family members that work at firm. Dan’s wife is a CPA and she works at the office. Dan’s Uncle Jerry Bauer has worked with his dad for years and is an integral part of the business. His brother Tom and another Uncle Ken are also important members of the firm. Most employees have been with them for years making the company a family of its own.

When Dan’s dad got into business, he said, “I am not going into business to have that [bad] reputation. Quality is critical to the process and if I can’t do it with quality, I don’t want to be in business”. That strong ethic has held strong all these years and Dan’s intention is to not only continue that tradition, but also continually improve it.

Albert L. Bauer Plumbing is located at 835 Anderson Street in New Kensington and may be reached by calling 724-335-8142.