Nathan Kenney, General Manager of Pleasant Unity Supply.

Even though its posted business hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., the company offers round-the-clock delivery services.

Nathan Kenney can’t think of a single thing he’d change about his family’s business—except perhaps its location.

Nathan is General Manager of Pleasant Unity Supply, located about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and six miles outside of Greensburg. He and his father, Harry Kenney, co-own the company, which has served western Pennsylvania since 1988.

The distance from home base to Greensburg’s city center can take its toll on this service-oriented company, as several of its competitors are conveniently located right in town. “It’s the only thing I would change about our business,” Nathan says. “But the business has always been customer-first, so it doesn’t hurt our company.”

Constructing the Business

Pleasant Unity Supply was, aptly, born out of a need for supplies.

In the mid-1970s, Harry owned and operated a construction company in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. Throughout the 1970s and ’80s, his business grew. “We were doing really well for ourselves, but I was always frustrated about the supply chain,” Harry recalls. His problem, as is the case with so many general contractors, was that he often did not have the right supplies at the right time.

“Things happen on construction sites. Maybe someone ordered less than they needed, maybe something breaks. Those are constants,” says Harry with a laugh. “But I didn’t like shutting down a project for a day because I couldn’t get what I needed. So, I started a business to help my business.”

He opened Pleasant Unity Supply while Nathan was still in junior high. “I started on the ground floor,” Nathan recalls. “I worked construction alongside the other guys. I laid pipe and spent a lot of time working in the trenches. It was a good education.”

While both businesses prospered, Harry soon realized that the supply company was becoming more successful. So, in 2015 he sold and retired from the construction business and focused on supplies, moving Pleasant Unity Supply into the construction company’s former yard. The company has been there ever since.

“Here, we have great view of farm pastures and mountainsides,” Nathan says. “Sure, we could be closer to town. But we’re doing great. We have people who come to us, drive all the way out here, because we do right by them.”

A Higher Level of Service

These days, Nathan runs the operation. “I am more of a figurehead at this point,” Harry says. “I visit when I’m in town.” He seems to have taught his son well, as operations—from staff to supplies to financial output—continue to run smoothly under Nathan’s watch.

“Everything works in our business because of one thing: service,” says Nathan. “I think even our competitors would admit that we offer a higher level of service. And we do that because we started in construction, we understand how the industry works.”

Because the Kenneys started in construction, they understand what their clients need. “Time equals money, so we move quick,” Nathan says.

They know that it’s inexcusable for a missing part to cause extended work delays, so staff members are ready to deliver around the clock, though the store’s posted hours are Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. “A lot of our guys live close to here, so it’s easy for them to do an emergency run,” Nathan explains.

Large pipe orders can be shipped directly to job sites from the manufacturer trucks, due in part to the company’s relationships with manufacturers and their go-to delivery team. “We have the best delivery guys working for us,” Nathan says. “They wake up on nights and weekends to help a client out.” And if that doesn’t work? “We will sometimes leave an order in a special location so people can pick it up when they are able to. It makes everyone’s life easier.”

The Kenneys’ construction experience has also helped with understanding which products are needed to make a job work.

“We know that there’s no one-size-fits-all for projects, so we carry as many products as we can,” Nathan says. The company offers a broad inventory—including ADS corrugated polyethylene pipe and fittings, StormTech chambers for underground detention/retention systems, North American Pipe SDR 35 gasketed sanitary pipe and fittings, and Propex geotextile fabric and paving products—and has recently added a variety of plumbing line products.

Pleasant Unity Supply also has a team of project coordinators that walks clients through an entire project.

“We’re still a construction company in our heart,” Nathan says. The team recently aided in the installation of a large underground detention system at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, and in the replacement of a bridge on Route 982 in Westmoreland County, where a triple run of 48-inch ADS N-12® storm pipe was installed at 45-degree elbows. At the bridge, the elbows successfully diverted water around the existing bridge, allowing demolition of the old structure and installation of the new Latrobe Street crossing. “That was a great project because we, along with the contractor, realized that we could remove the pipe, which the client was able to save for future projects,” Nathan adds.

So while the cows graze and supplies ship, the entire team at Pleasant Unity Supply will keep lending their expertise to the contractors and consultants, both big and small, around Westmoreland County and the surrounding area.