Wymond Wong (Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric)

Wymond Wong is the owner of Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric, an HVAC company located in the Twin Cities. 

As a child, Wymond lived in Golden Valley, a Minneapolis suburb that allowed the gregarious Wonger (his nickname) ample opportunity to grow into his personality, as well as partake in baseball and football. 

“I also tried to play basketball, but I wasn’t very good at it. My height didn’t help,” Wymond says with his patented laugh that for years has endeared him to HVAC clients across the metro area. 

Like many successful business owners, Wymond had humble professional beginnings. 

After high school he attended North Hennepin Technical School, where he learned the nuances of heating and air. 

He also worked at his dad’s restaurant, Lon’s Garden Cafe, a Chinese restaurant in the 60’ and 70’s on 14th and Nicollet, serving Chow Mein to the faithful patrons of Minneapolis. 

Over the course of the next few years, he continued to work in the family restaurant, cooking, bartending, and refining his technical skills in heating and air. 

He also worked as a bartender at Bennigans in St Louis Park in the 80’s, but once he got married and started a family, he gave up the long hours of restaurant and bar life and got a job at CenterPoint Energy.

Wymond stayed with CenterPoint for the next several years, but eventually the golden handcuffs afforded by the massive entity began to rust, and his heart ached for something more impactful. 

“At that point, I felt like I needed something more in my life,” Wymond says, remarking on professional aspirations that were never going to be sated while working for someone else, much less a large corporation. 

“I needed to bet on myself, and if I didn’t do it then, I realized I would probably never own my own business.”

The fate of his financial future dependent on his next moves, Wymond started a heating and air company in the Twin Cities, mainly servicing restaurants and friends and family while he established his vocational footing. 

“I was actually failing miserably for the first five or six years I was in the heating and air business,” Wymond recalls, turning to his right and subtly acknowledging the bevy of plaques now hanging on his Blaine office wall, a reminder of just how far he has come. 

“Back then, I owed a lot of money, but what was more problematic was that I was more of a service tech than a business owner.”

In essence, Wymond, while highly skilled in the technical side of heating and air, lacked the business aptitude to get his company to the next level.

At the time, Wymond says he was doing work faster and cheaper than his competitors, yet perhaps surprisingly, that combination of service wasn’t benefiting his business. 

If anything, his strategy was slowly draining him and eroding his company.  

“Being the lowest price was what set me apart, but in hindsight, that shouldn’t have been the inciting factor for people to want to do business with me,” Wymond notes. 

By 2007, after six years in business, Wymond stopped running his own company and began working for someone else, the allure of a steady paycheck and defined role a welcome reprieve from the endless grind of entrepreneurship. 

“Doing that was a chance to reset. I paid my debts off, but it was hard work,” Wymond says. 

Not even two years into his new job, Wymond’s ambitions resurfaced, and once he met a fellow employee who also yearned to own a business, the two left their jobs and started a new LLC. 

Right away, the duo decided that Wymond would focus on the technical elements of the heating and air business, and his partner would do more of the sales and administrative tasks.

In other words, Wymond did the work while his partner ran the business.

For the next seven years, the pair worked tirelessly to grow their business, but a surge in revenue and bright long-term prospects never materialized.  

“We were always stuck around $300-400k in gross revenue every year,” Wymond says.

As a result, in 2016, and after a slew of unfortunate events, Wymond opted to branch off and make another run at operating his own business. 

Of course, Wymond didn’t think starting over would be easy, but he also was better prepared for the inherent challenges that came with running a profitable heating and air company.

Not long after Wymond and his business partner separated, Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric was born. 

“I started from ground level once again. It was hard, but I was able to really progress,” says Wymond, who instead of taking every phone call and doing every job himself, decided to hire outside talent to assist with his new venture. 

Fortunately, the amiable and congenial Wymond quickly made a habit of hiring friendly and competent employees, but he also better understood the art of getting out of his own way and allowing others the autonomy to get the job done. 

“A lot of business owners struggle to hire people because they look at it as an expense, but if you hire the right person for the right role, they give you so much more in return,” says Wymond, who since 2016 has assembled a first-rate team that is committed to exceptional quality and customer service.  

“When you have good people alongside you, that allows you as a business owner to better service your customers and focus on your core strengths.” 

That evolution of granting freedom and flexibility to his team wasn’t always in Wymond’s entrepreneurial DNA, but he was self-aware enough to realize it would be a necessary component if Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric were to ever make a sizable jump in revenue.  

“When I had got together with my former business partner in 2007, he saw me more as a technician than a partner in our company, but I knew that there was more value I could bring to a business than just the service and technical aspect of it,” Wymond explains. 

“Being able to develop into a capable business owner in the years since has made me feel good, and over time, the frustration and resentment that I once felt about being overlooked by my ex-partner gradually diminished, and I have become more grateful for the journey that has gotten me to this point.”

Had Wymond never allowed himself to accept and move past what led to the stagnation of his former business, Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric may have forever been mired in purgatory, trapped in a fledgling wasteland where fiscal outlooks would look as bleak as a gloomy March day in Minnesota. 

But again, Wymond is introspective and aware of his shortcomings. 

In fact, it’s that same selfless humility that has enabled him to cultivate a culture where employees thrive, and in turn, customers benefit immensely. 

“I’ve always wanted to create a company where people could come to work and feel valued and appreciated, while simultaneously being compensated well,” says Wymond. 

“Of course, it took a long time to get to the point where I could build a company that can gainfully employ dozens of people, but I believe doing that has been my greatest professional accomplishment. This business is nothing without great people, and again, I just feel so lucky to be able to be a part of what we have created.” 

If you’re a Twin Cities homeowner in need of heating, air, electrical, or water treatment services, please know that Wymond and his team will do everything they can to give you an outstanding experience.

For reference, they may not be the lowest price on the market, but they can guarantee that from start to finish, their customers will be taken care of. 

“We want Minnesotans to feel the difference when they work with us, both figuratively and literally. What that looks like in practice is our company never sacrificing our values for the sake of a dollar,” Wymond begins. 

“That’s extremely important to us because we want people to feel good about doing business with us. Yes, there is a business element to what we do, but beyond that it’s a human element, and without constantly prioritizing that, we simply don’t exist.”

In the coming years, Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric will continue offering homeowners and businesses all they could possibly hope for from an HVAC company, but the dynamic Wymond has also placed an emphasis on diversifying the company’s repertoire. 

In addition to further building out their electrical department, Wymond is also considering adding plumbing to their list of services, but regardless of trade, the primary mantra at Twin City Heating, Air, and Electric is simple:

People come first. 

“It doesn’t get much simpler than that,” Wymond emphasizes. 

“We take care of our customers. I take care of my team members, and everything else just seems to fall into place.” QS

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As a family-owned business with 53 years of experience in the Twin Cities market, Grussing Roofing specializes in residential roofing, insurance restoration, siding, windows, and gutters.

For homeowners and commercial building owners who are looking to connect with a company that prides themselves on putting customers first, look no further than Eden Prairie-based Grussing Roofing.