Beacon Plumbing
Beacon Plumbing is a Seattle-based plumbing and sewer repair company that serves commercial and residential customers throughout Washington.
History[edit]
Beacon Plumbing was started in 1999 by Bill Cahill, who has served as the company's President since its inception. As of 2018, Beacon Plumbing employed 65 full-time plumbers and had grown to be a reliable charitable partner for a variety of local community assistance programs from Crime Stoppers to educational donations.[1][2] Many of Beacon Plumbing's residential and commercial customers call them for emergency plumbing and heating services, such as sewer inspections and repair, ruptured pipes, broken water lines, HVAC repair, and leak detection. With over 40 trucks servicing the greater Seattle region, Beacon Plumbing can fix hundreds of homes daily when adverse-weather strikes and leaves homes, schools, and businesses without basic plumbing features.[3][4]
Charity[edit]
In the 1980s, Bill Cahill's sister was murdered, which impacted Cahill's life dramatically. A family member was eventually arrested for her death, which left Cahill wanting to help other families who experienced similar tragedy; particularly when the victim's case is left unsolved. Over the years, Cahill and Beacon Plumbing have donated reward money to Crime Stoppers on a variety of cases to help encourage witnesses and the public at large to come forward with information related to these cases. Most notably is the still unsolved murder of Jeffrey Beach, who was attacked on the Fourth of July weekend in Long Beach, WA when he came to the defense of a woman who was being harassed. Cahill donated $25,000 to increase the visibility and profile of the case in hopes Beach's family could finally learn who was responsible for their son's death.[5][6][7] As of 2019, the case is still unsolved and the reward for information leading to an arrest is at $36,000.[8]
In addition to his involvement with unsolved investigations, Cahill and Beacon Plumbing also donate to local schools, such as the St. George Parish School in Seattle. Cahill's six children attended the school decades past, which at the time, he helped offset some of their tuition in the form of doing work-trade in plumbing, landscaping, and other tasks. Once Beacon Plumbing experienced some financial success, Cahill told the Parish that all they need to do is ask and he'll do his best to provide them with the funds they need. In 2017, Cahill donated $220,000 of the costs needed for a $320,000 renovation to provide the community with an expansive preschool option.[9][10]
In 2019, Beacon Plumbing continued their Seattle-region charitable efforts by hosting the Crime Stoppers Global Solutions benefit to help fight human trafficking.[11]
Seattle Seahawks player endorsements[edit]
Beacon Plumbing made national headlines in 2013 when they secured Super Bowl winning Seattle Seahawks running back, Marshawn Lynch, to star in their regional TV advertisement.[12] Lynch was known for being reserved in interviews and avoiding publicity and press as much as possible, so his acceptance and lighthearted participation in the local TV commercial surprised many in the sports, news, and gossip industries[13]. Lynch commented on the commercial with a variety of late night talk show hosts, most popular, Conan O'Brien.[14]
When Lynch left the Seattle Seahawks, Beacon Plumbing enlisted the help of Seattle Seahawk Bobby Wagner to replace Lynch as their endorser. Wagner has participated in charitable causes that Beacon Plumbing has contributed to, such as the aforementioned St. George Parish School expansion, where Wagner was the ribbon-cutter for the opening of the preschool. Wagner is currently the main spokesman for the company.
Legal issues[edit]
Beacon Plumbing has experienced some legal hurdles over the years, which were covered pretty extensively in the local region. In 2009, the company filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection from their creditors. Total amounts owed were valued at over US$3,000,000, with the top creditors being Dex Media ($1.5 million), Verizon ($363,000), Seattle Seahawks ($82,000), and local news station, KIRO ($43,000).[15]
In 2013, Beacon Plumbing was sued in a class-action lawsuit for allegedly sending 43,000 illegal text messages to cell phone users as part of an advertising campaign. Seattle telemarketing law firm, Heyrich Kalish McGuigan PLLC, led the lawsuit and cited the Telephone Consumer Protection Act that allows consumers to collect damages of $500 per illegal text message.[16][17]
References[edit]
- ↑ Whalen, Nathan. "Beacon Plumbing owner gives back to St. George School". www.nwcatholic.org. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "12 Professionals Offer Tips for Hiring College Graduates". Business Trends and Insights. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Frozen pipes: headaches for homeowners, long hours for plumbers". KIRO. 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "How to Start a Home Renovating Business". smallbusiness.chron.com. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ aevans@chinookobserver.com, By Alyssa Evans. "Three years later, murder victim's parents still hope for answers". Chinook Observer. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Beacon Plumbing owner's donation raises reward to $36,000 in Pacific County murder of Jeff Beach". Q13 FOX News. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Reward increased in Pacific County death investigation". KXRO News Radio. 2018-06-04. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound". www.crimestoppers.com. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ Whalen, Nathan. "Beacon Plumbing owner gives back to St. George School". www.nwcatholic.org. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Thank You Beacon Plumbing! – St. George Parish School". www.saintgeorgeseattle.org. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Beacon Plumbing hosting Crime Stoppers Global Solutions benefit to help fight human trafficking". Q13 FOX News. 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
- ↑ Dec 14, Sid Saraf; ET, 2013 at 12:04p (2013-12-14). "Marshawn Lynch will go Beast Mode on your plumbing needs". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ "Column: Provocative film sheds light on Marshawn Lynch's history of silence". The Buffalo News. 2019-07-16. Retrieved 2019-08-14.
- ↑ Team Coco (2015-06-30), Marshawn Lynch’s Local Plumbing Ad - CONAN on TBS, retrieved 2019-05-08
- ↑ staff, Seattle Times (2009-04-03). "Beacon Plumbing seeks protection from creditors". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
- ↑ Staff, KOMO (2013-01-28). "Plumbing company facing lawsuit over spam text messages". KOMO. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
- ↑ "Beacon Plumbing sued over spam text messages". www.bizjournals.com. Jan 29, 2013. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
External links[edit]
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