Goodco acquires Bovard Heating and Cooling

Longtime Altoona business will retain its name

A longtime Altoona business has been sold to a State College firm.

Goodco Mechanical Inc. acquired Bovard Heating and Cooling effective Thursday.

Jim Bovard, owner of Bovard, said he is confident the 57 years of customer satisfaction and loyalty will continue under the leadership of Scott Good, president of Goodco.

"I am at retirement age. I am just changing gears and doing something else with my life. I will be staying on for two or three months to help with the transition," Bovard, 66, said. "He (Good) approached me and made me a fair offer. I was very impressed with the guy; he will treat my employees and customers the same way I would."

Goodco Mechanical Inc. was founded by Good in 2008 and is one of the fastest-growing businesses in State College, servicing residential and commercial clients, including Penn State University, according to its website.

"We have been looking to do more work in the Altoona area, and this became available. We felt this was the best way to do that by acquiring an existing, well-established business," Good said. "There will be minimal changes. We are looking to grow the business. We would like to increase our size in Altoona, add some employees and do some more commercial business.

Good said he is already interviewing people to add a few positions.

Bovard, whose father Glenn founded the business in 1960, said the decision to sell the family business was "hard but not as hard as I thought it would be."

"It was more nerve wracking. You develop a relationship with people. I have been here for 45 years, and I wanted to make sure everyone was taken care of. This came up, and I feel confident about it. Scott Good is a reputable person, and he has a reputable company," Bovard said.

Bovard said his brother, Charlie, and the current staff will remain at the company, which will be known as Bovard Heating and Cooling, a division of Goodco Mechanical Inc.

"It was very important to keep the name of a business with a tremendous reputation. We connected in January and agreed to this in March. We both felt it was a good fit," Good said.

Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 946-7467.