Photo by ELIZABETH A. MUNDSCHENK Louis A. Falvo, left, corporate secretary and his brother Richard M. Falvo, vice president. Portrait done at the #3 Mill in New York Mills on Monday, September 5, 2001.

By MARY MARCHIO
Observer-Dispatch

Being chosen as one of the Accent on Excellence winners was a pleasant surprise for H.J. Brandeles Corp. Vice President Richard Falvo.

“Being a contractor, you don’t get as much notoriety as other professionals,” Falvo said. “We’re kind of low key here.”

They might be low key to some, but the company, established in 1897 by H.J. Brandeles, was taken over by the Falvo family in 1960 and continues to install and maintain commercial heating, air conditioning and plumbing.

“I don’t consider my job work, I have a positive attitude toward it,” Falvo said.

He lives in New Hartford with his wife, Deborah, and three children, Christina, Nicole and Richard Jr.

As vice president, Falvo is involved in almost all facets of the business that include administrative work, billing, project estimates and overseeing employees.

“I tend to like the unpredictability,” he said. “In construction, you don’t know what problems are going to come up.”

His parents, Louis and Elaine Falvo, are still very involved in the business.

Falvo said his father is a humble man who taught him it’s better to serve people “with your hand in the background.”

“He makes us want to do a better job,” he said.

Falvo, a Colgate University graduate, is treasurer of the Mohawk Valley Mechanical Contractors Association and is a trustee for the Joint Apprenticeship Fund Local 112 Plumbers and Fitters.

He commits himself to charitable work, said Francine Falvo Babikian, Falvo’s sister who nominated him and their brother, Louis Falvo, for the Accent on Excellence awards.

She said her brother is a family man who sponsors children through the Children’s Hunger Fund and Danny Thomas Cancer Research Hospital and coaches his daughter’s soccer team.

“To see his family laugh, play and work together is to see his strength of family love and commitment.

Juggling work and family isn’t hard for Falvo. He tries to leave his work at the office so his family has all of his attention when he is home.

“It is difficult, but it’s a nice balance,” he said.