But the recession hit a few years back, and he switched careers to home energy. The government was encouraging homeowners and business owners with rebates to reduce energy consumption.

Now Koncoski is starting another career. He was recruited to run the Barron Heating and Air Conditioning store at 1062 State Ave. in Marysville.

“Why buy a great heater if it leaks?” he asked.

Koncoski makes sure it doesn’t. Unlike duct tape or goo, he and his technicians use aeroseal, which seals from the inside out, so there is basically no leakage.

Barron already has stores in Ferndale and Burlington, and decided to come to Marysville because even with no marketing sales were doubling in Snohomish County year after year.

Koncoski has longtime ties to Marysville, having lived here for 25 years. He graduated from Marysville-Pilchuck High School in 1997. His wife, Linnaea, graduated from M-P two years later. They have four kids.

He said the business is very family oriented. He said about 60 percent of their business comes from referrals.

“One of my high school teachers was here last night,” he said. “That’s how tight we are.”

Koncoski said the business believes that “the better they take care of their employees, the better they will take care of their customers.”

Barron carries that belief even further by carrying locally made products. Its fireplaces are made in Colville and it recently switched its hot-tub company to Bullfrog because “It’s made in America” in Salt Lake City, said Jim Akerlund, also known as “Jacuzzi Jim.”

Akerland said people love the high-end spas because they can decide from 18 different jet packs that are easily interchangeable.

“It’s like building your own spa,” he said, adding the hot tubs have less plumbing than other spas and cost just $10-$15 a month to operate.

In the local showroom along with the hot tubs there are wood and pellet stoves, natural and propane gas inserts, furnaces and ductless heat pumps, which can heat an entire house. A $1,200 rebate is available on that product now, Koncoski said.

There are 100 people working in the three stores, including sales, installation and service. They have 13 on-call technicians.

“If you have no heat we can get help quickly,” he said. And while summer is a ways off, “last summer we broke records left and right for air conditioning.”