30 Sep Fast growth has C&L Mechanical owners looking to expand
By Luke Nathan – Reporter, Albany Business Review
- C&L Mechanical Corp. grew revenue to $6.5 million in 2024.
- The company performs commercial plumbing, HVAC, and process piping work.
- Opening a second office in North Carolina.
A small mechanical contractor based in Queensbury has grown its revenue by millions of dollars over the past few years, buoyed by work for the Troy Housing Authority and other commercial jobs.
C&L Mechanical Corp., owned by Nelson Charron, its president, and secretarytreasurer Daniel Levo, generated $6.5 million in revenue last year, up from $1.69 million in 2023.
The company’s growth since 2021, when it recorded just $560,000 in revenue, put it at the top of the small division of this year’s Fastest-Growing Companies List for the Albany area.
The owners are now looking to hire another estimator as they to win more competitively bid jobs.
“Dan and I are pretty much maxed out on the amount of work we can bid, just the two of us,” said Charron, a former leader for UA Local 773, a labor union that represents plumbers and steamfitters in the North Country.
Charron and Levo, previously a plumbing shop foreman at Saratoga Race Course, launched the company in 2019. Early work for the Glens Falls Housing Authority, including at the high-rise Stichman Towers in downtown Glens Falls, helped to promote the business, Charron said.
The company performs commercial plumbing, HVAC and process piping work, pursuing projects from Albany to the Canadian border. It has around 15 employees.
C&L is currently working on rehabilitation projects at several Troy Housing Authority properties under affordable housing developer MDG Design and Construction of Woodbury. It’s also handling a couple of emergency contracts for the state’s Office of General Services.
Charron said he and Levo are now considering opening a second office in Raleigh, North Carolina, where they have connections and could envision retiring one day.
“There’s a lot going on, a lot of cranes in the air,” he said of the North Carolina capital city.
The company’s head count in the Albany area is dwarfed by the region’s largest mechanical contractors, which have dozens or even hundreds of local employees.
Charron said he and Levo envision having multiple offices but with only 10 to 15 employees per location.
Fastest-Growing Companies in the Albany area, small division
Three-year local revenue growth
For more information about C&L Mechanical Corp., call (518) 531-8998.