Service Company Spotlight: Meet Jeremy Allen

Meet Jeremy Allen – President of Vanco

For some, the thought of sharing an office with their dad for three years, while running a business, may sound kind of scary, but that’s not the case for Jeremy Allen of Vanco.

Let’s take a step back and start at the beginning. In 1963, Jeremy’s grandfather, Homer started. Commercial Parts and Service. Gary, Jeremy’s father joined the business after he graduated from college. This is where young Jeremy got his first taste of the commercial kitchen repair industry.

Years later, Jeremy left to attend college at Purdue University. During that time, Gary sold the business in 2021.

Fast forward to 2010 and a new dynamic duo was formed when Jeremy and Gary teamed up to purchase Vanco Commercial Service. The deal closed on New Year’s Eve, giving the Allens something extra special to celebrate the new year.

That’s how Jeremy and Gary ended up sharing an office for over three years. Luckily for Jeremy, the experience was the opposite of scary. Instead, it was a fun and helpful experience having his dad there every step of the way. He was a true sounding board, listening in on Jeremy’s phone conversations regarding the business.

While a slight inconvenience at first, looking back, Jeremy is grateful to have had that opportunity. Gary not only brought his experience of running a business to the table, but also the knowledge of what it’s like to be a son working alongside his father.

Jeremy was very green when they purchased the business, but he was eager to learn. He has done every job there is, including being the parts person, PM repair work, dispatch, quoting, proposals, installations and more. These experiences gave him an appreciation and first-hand insight into each position at the company.

After a few years, Gary slowly phased himself out of the business, leaving the reigns in Jeremy’s capable hands. In 2015, Jeremy became President of Vanco, and he credits his success to having a growth mindset, “You need to stretch yourself and grow outside of your comfort zone. To be a leader in a growing organization, you must learn and grow yourself.”

He says growth can come from joining peer groups within the industry and even looking outside of it for new ideas and inspiration. Jeremy believes that some business challenges are universal, no matter the industry, and there is a lot to learn with varied peer groups.

One way that Vanco and Jeremy stay involved is through their involvement with CFESA (Commercial Food Equipment Service Association). Currently, Jeremy is a CFESA Board Director, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather who both served as CFESA Presidents. For Jeremy, it wasn’t even a question of whether he would be part of the association. CFESA is the only association solely dedicated to this trade.

Over the decades, Jeremy has seen a lot of changes in the industry, especially in the rep, dealer, service agent and consultant space. Everyone is looking to help their clients and find new income streams. This has brought a whole new dynamic to customer and vendor relationships. For a business to thrive, it must evolve and align with what customers really need.

With ever-evolving technology, techs can deliver a higher level of transparency and awareness to their customers. While this technology is game-changing, it has also created a greater need for in-house training. Vanco now has a Director of Training to help develop the skills of new hires to enable them to run calls even quicker.

In the past two years, Vanco has achieved some key milestones, including acquiring Professional Food Equipment Service in 2023, which brought in a talented group of people with a similar culture. Jeremy couldn’t be happier with the opportunity and the people. Earlier this year, Jeremy was named as a 2025 Top Achiever in Service by Foodservice Equipment & Supplies.

Jeremy’s advice for those joining the industry? “Find your passion and your purpose. Keep growing and developing no matter what role you have. The next 10 years will change faster than we’ve ever seen. If you hate change, you must learn to adapt. You can’t fight it.”

In each issue of The Town Times, we’ll be spotlighting an outstanding service company. Would you like to be featured in an upcoming issue? We’d love to hear about it at mailto:platinumnews@partstown.com.