Sioux City sits at the meeting point of Iowa, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and for over a century, one company has kept homes and businesses comfortable across all of them. Kalins Indoor Comfort has been a fixture of the Siouxland region since 1921, when Bruce Kalin's grandfather, Jacob Kalin, founded the Norfolk Furnace Company on a handshake and a belief that good work speaks for itself.
Three generations and 105 years later, that belief is still running the business.
A Legacy Built Over a Century
Jacob Kalin started small. By the post-WWII era, he had forged a dealer relationship with Lennox that endures to this day. His son Sid joined the business in 1947 and eventually became something of a regional celebrity, appearing on live television as early as 1954 as a heating-and-cooling expert.
Sid's son Bruce came aboard in 1976, fresh out of the University of Colorado with a finance degree and no particular intention to stay. "I thought maybe a year or two, and then probably not stay in the business," he said with a laugh. "But almost 50 years later, here I am."
He opened the Vermillion, South Dakota, location in 1983, consolidated operations under the Kalins Indoor Comfort name by 1989, and took the helm when Sid retired in 1999. A third location in Yankton, South Dakota, followed in 2017. The company celebrated its centennial in 2021, marking the occasion with a substantial donation to United Way.
General Manager Steven Kistner joined nearly 11 years ago with a background in engineering and business management. Like Kalin, he'll tell you it's the people who kept him there.
"You Have to Put Back Into the Community"
Ask Kalin what drives Kalins' culture of giving, and he doesn't reach for a mission statement. He points to his father.
"I learned it from my dad, and I'm sure he learned it from his dad," he said. "You have to put back into the community that helps make you successful."
That philosophy runs through everything the company does, from Little League sponsorships and youth sports jerseys to capital campaign contributions for nonprofits across Sioux City. Kalins consistently ranks among the top 25 United Way contributors in the region, regardless of company size, with employee participation above 95 percent. In 2024, they were recognized as Medium Business of the Year by United Way Siouxland.
The list of organizations they've supported includes Boys and Girls Club, Boys and Girls Home, Crittenton Center, Camp High Hopes, and many more.
For businesses that want to start giving but don't know where to start, Kalin's advice is simple: start with United Way. "They're in just about every community, they know the different agencies, and they're very efficient with very low overhead," he said.
Feel the Love: Comfort for Families Who Need It Most
For the past four years, Kalins has participated in Lennox's national "Feel the Love" program, a charitable initiative that pairs equipment donations with dealer installation to provide complete HVAC systems to deserving families and nonprofits at no cost.
In the early years, Kalins relied on a social services agency to surface candidates. More recently, they've turned to the community directly, opening nominations on social media and then visiting the most promising candidates in person. "We might review those nominations, and then go visit with three or four or five that look well-deserving," Kalin explained.
One recent recipient stands out. She was a woman who had taken in children through the foster care system and eventually adopted several of them. Her air conditioning had failed, and her furnace was in disrepair, but between the demands of her growing family and a sudden job loss, replacement was out of reach. "Very well deserving, very appreciative," Kalin said. "She just felt really blessed with what we did for her." She had been nominated by a friend, and Kalins and Lennox together covered the full cost of equipment and installation.
For the Kalins team, the value goes beyond the family receiving the system. "I really think they enjoy and get a great feeling when they go home that night," Kalin said. "They get to know the person receiving the equipment. They see it and feel it, and I think they're very proud to be part of it."
That pride shows up in the numbers. In Kalins' annual employee engagement survey, the top-scoring item this year was a simple statement: "My company is socially responsible by giving back to the community.”
Building the Next Generation of Trades Workers
Two years ago, Kalins launched an in-house Training Academy with a full-time teacher, a classroom, a lab, and a large meeting room. They train new technicians, installers, and plumbers, as well as providing ongoing development for current staff.
The results were immediate. "We went from crossing our fingers and hoping we could fill spots to now being in a position to attract and excite people about coming to the company," Kistner said.
Kalins has also taken their outreach directly into schools. In February, they hosted 11 girls from Girls Incorporated, sixth through eighth graders from Sioux City, for a Saturday morning of hands-on trades exploration. The students worked with ductwork, toured stations, and tried brazing copper pipe together, which they got to take home. "They were so thrilled, they didn't want to leave," Kistner said. The program director later told him it was entertaining to hear 11- to 13-year-old girls talking about heating and cooling like seasoned veterans.
Kalins' own female technician was part of the day, sharing what working in the trades actually looks like for a woman. "Women are underrepresented in the trades," Kistner acknowledged. "A lot of times it's perceived to be a rough-and-tough environment. But we run a professional organization, and I don't think everybody's aware of the cool opportunities available."
Both Kalin and Kistner push back against the assumption that a trades career is a lesser path. "You can have an awesome career, make a very good living, and not come out with a bunch of debt," Kalin said. "A qualified technician can go just about anywhere, anytime, and get a job."
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What Endures
When asked what he hopes the next generation of Kalins leadership will preserve above everything else, Kalin didn't hesitate. "Along with taking care of our customers and our reputation, I would hope that we have instilled everything we've talked about today — that it's important to give back to the community."
Kistner keeps it even simpler. "We have a great bunch of humans who work at our organization. It's pretty important when we trust them in people's homes every day, and we want you to trust them in your home."
The values, as Kalin sees it, don't change generation to generation.
"Taking care of our customers. That never changes."
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