Since Day 1, AES Industries has played a strong role in Tallassee. Although it's served Tallassee since its creation, it has grown to serve several other areas of the country and serving a national customer base since day 1. It merged with Lennox nearly a year ago.
It all started in east Tallassee in 1988 with founders and Tallassee natives Ricky Benton and Lenard McGharr and moved to its current location on Highway 229 about 20 years ago. It’s now managed by Benton’s son Jason Benton since his father’s death.
“We had half the county shop, about 5,000 square feet when we started in east Tallassee,” Jason Benton said. “There were just three or four employees. Now we have grown to be almost 300 employees with manufacturing facilities like this in West Virginia, Texas and Nevada.”
AES started out manufacturing ceiling-mounted dropbox diffusers to distribute heated and cooled air throughout large interior spaces. AES also manufactures roof curbs, which are large frames designed to mount exterior heating and cooling units on buildings. The company grew to include a recycling arm to capture the freon and other gasses and metals in air conditioning they replaced.
They serviced customers such as Walmart, Home Depot and Lowes. Last year Lennox purchased AES and Jason Benton stayed on, helping create a larger customer base.
“We'll have accounts like Burlington, Best Buy, PetSmart and the new Michaels,” Benton said. “I mean, it's just tons of national accounts.”
The growth means the current locations of AES will expand including Tallassee’s.
“We are looking for new employees everyday,” Benton said. “We are growing very fast. I could see this thing doubling or tripling in the next couple of years.”
Benton is not afraid of the acquisition by Lennox.
“They are not some private equity group,” Benton said. “They are a large player in the market.”
Employees at AES spent part of Friday celebrating the one-year anniversary with Lennox. Employees enjoyed games and food and getting encouragement from Benton and others. Some of the employees have been with AES and now Lennox for more than a decade. The last year has been spent meshing to the two companies accounting systems and workflows.
“There’s been a lot accomplished over the last year,” Benton said. “There is a lot of work left to be done. Lennox is putting a lot into this business that could create lots of positions and lots of career opportunities for everybody.”