Page 17 - May June 2017 CFESA Magazine

Honesty. Integrity. Communication.

These simple values make up the rock-solid foundation of COMPANY
Windy City Equipment Service, Inc (WCE) based in Phoenix, Arizona. SPOTLIGHT

2003: Joel Zolin was forty years young and the foreman of a large
bakery in Chicago, IL; had been for the past 15 years. It was here that
Joel finely tuned his technical abilities and tested his work ethic, often
putting in over 100hrs per week. With an entrepreneurial spirit and
the thought that there had to be more to life (and in search of warm-
er weather!) Joel moved himself and his family to sunny Arizona to
do what he did best; repair commercial restaurant and bakery equip-
ment. He went door-to-door every passing day building the customer
base one handshake at a time until he had enough work to keep him-
self busy and enough trust to let the word spread like wildfire. Soon he was known as the company that would
“Get the job done right the first time”

2008: After five years (1,825 days) of being on-call 24/7 and a two-car garage full of cooking equipment parts,
Joel’s oldest son Josh joined the company. Showing no mercy to his offspring, Joel taught him first what it means
to be a technician, and the lifestyle that ensues. From there, Josh learned & lived these core values and how that
translates directly into customer relationships. Then he was taught the back-end procedures and processes that tie
the two together. Joel & Josh worked seamlessly for years growing the customer-base, and establishing a reputa-
tion that would prove to be the catalyst for becoming the fastest-growing service company in Arizona.

2013: By this point the parts alone had overthrown the garage, side and back patios of Joel’s home. The foot-traf-
fic of four Windy City Technicians had left their mark in the front-room hallway between the one lone desk and
three office employees that shared it.

…it was time to make a change.

Windy City Equipment quickly purchased a 6,000-sq. ft. com-
mercial building and joined CFESA, which almost immediately
enabled them to become an ASA for several cooking equipment
manufacturers. Understanding that success is surrounding your-
self with people smarter than you, WCE hired & trained several
CFESA Master Certified technicians and ensured every day that
this was a place where people wanted to work. Every employee of Windy City embraces the team atmosphere
and works together toward a common goal.

2017: WCE is now a full-service company offering repair, maintenance, and sales of Commercial Cooking Equip-
ment, HVAC, and Refrigeration with multiple branches in the state of Arizona. With Josh Zolin, now CEO, at
the helm, Windy City has adopted new age technology and innovative growth strategies, but kept an old-school
attitude to become nationally recognized by customers & manufactures alike. This has proven to set them apart
and adopt their new slogan “Setting the new standard for Service Companies Everywhere” while never losing
sight of what has driven the success of the company since day one; Honesty, Integrity, Communication.

www.cfesa.com MAY / JUNE 2017 CFESA Magazine 17