Kootenai County's Legacy Heating scales to 60 employees, son co-owner

Legacy Heating and Cooling, a commercial HVAC firm founded and led by Tony Marmon, marked a milestone on January 22, 2026, when the company reached 60 employees and added Tony’s son, Vincent Marmon, as co-owner. The move caps a two-decade evolution from residential roots to a regional commercial services provider for North Idaho and eastern Washington and underscores a local example of succession and scale in a trade facing nationwide labor shortages.

Tony’s path began learning the trades from his father and shifted from mostly residential work into commercial projects. The business weathered the 2008 recession by diversifying its geography and services, including taking out-of-state jobs during the oil boom. That expansion included acquisitions, a sale of the commercial division, and a subsequent buy-back of that side of the business as Tony reassembled operations to focus on commercial contracting. Small Business Development Center coaching played a role in professionalizing the firm; the company credits that coaching with improving delegation, goal-setting, and establishing systems needed to manage growth.

For Kootenai County residents the implications are concrete. A 60-person employer in the trades provides stable, middle-skill jobs that support families and local purchasing power. As the firm increases capacity for commercial HVAC projects, municipalities, property managers, and local developers gain a larger pool of local expertise for installations, maintenance, and emergency service. That reduces reliance on distant contractors and can shorten lead times on public works or commercial construction projects in the region.

Workforce development is central to Legacy’s strategy. By scaling hiring and formalizing systems, the company positions itself to recruit and retain technicians in a market where skilled trades are in high demand. The succession to Vincent as co-owner also signals continuity: ownership transfer within a family business often preserves institutional knowledge and relationships that matter in construction and service industries.

From a business policy perspective, Legacy’s story highlights the utility of small business support programs and the strategic value of targeted coaching. Investments in management capacity can unlock growth without sacrificing service quality. Local economic development planners may view this as a model for encouraging similar firms to professionalize and scale, expanding the county’s capacity to meet commercial infrastructure needs.

For readers, this development means more local jobs, potentially faster service for commercial HVAC needs, and a reminder that small business coaching and deliberate succession planning can translate into measurable growth. As Legacy Heating and Cooling moves forward under Tony and Vincent Marmon, watch for continued hiring, more local contracting opportunities, and a stronger pipeline of skilled trade work in Kootenai County.