Overhead Door Company of Grand Junction’s John MacElhaney, left, and David Preuss traded places in the company to start the year as Preuss bought the business from MacElhaney,  who will remain with the company at least another year as an employee. If MacElhaney decides to stay a little longer after that, he can hit the 50-year mark with the company. Before purchasing the business, Preuss had been an employee of Overhead Door for 21 years. Photo by Tim Harty.

The transaction that became official on Jan. 1 had a familiar feel for John MacElhaney, albeit this time he was on the other side of the sale of Overhead Door Company of Grand Junction.

In June 2002, MacElhaney took ownership of the company, which specializes in sales, service and installation of residential and commercial garage doors. James Maguire started it as a branch of Overhead Door Company of Colorado Springs in 1972.

So, a longtime owner (30 years for Maguire) sold the business to a long-time employee (26 years for MacElhaney at that time). Twenty-two-and-a-half years later, it happened again.

When MacElhaney tried to remember the year he bought Overhead Door, he paused, then quipped, “It’s been so much fun I can’t remember.”

MacElhaney, who is a year-and-a-half from hitting the 50-year mark at Overhead Door, sold the business at 2944 I-70 Business Loop, Unit 303, to longtime employee David Preuss (21 years at the company).

MacElhaney might still reach 50 years with Overhead Door. He agreed to work for another year, helping Preuss with the transition to ownership. And MacElhaney might stick around a little longer and hit 50 years.

“I’m gonna go another year, maybe a year-and-a-half. Maybe two. At least a year,” he said.

Preuss said MacElhaney is welcome to stick around as long as he wants. Pruess is grateful for the experienced help.

“I’ve definitely got a lot to learn on some of that stuff, and it definitely will help to have somebody that’s done a lot of it to fall back on if I need to,” he said.

Preuss has his share of experience to fall back on, too. He joined the company in January 2004 as an installer and service technician. He moved into sales and management in 2014.

“I’ve dabbled in a lot of it,” Preuss said. “I definitely will be taking on a lot more of the bigger commercial end part of the business with some of our bigger commercial projects, whereas I’ve been doing mostly our residential stuff for a while. But I’ve been slowly getting into that, and it adds a whole new learning experience of running a business. It’s definitely a first for me on that one.”

MacElhaney started as a shop employee and an installer, then moved into sales and management before buying the business.

He recalls his transition to ownership being “pretty simple, because I’d been the manager for I don’t know, eight or nine years prior to that. So, the owner was remote out of Colorado Springs, and he was getting up there in age.”

Still, when it was his time to put his money down for the purchase, there was nervousness.

“It scared the hell out of me,” he said. “I mean, when you go from working for somebody to owing the bank a lot of money, you’re a little hesitant. But it’s all gone pretty well.”

When asked about his successor, MacElhaney first had a little fun with it, saying, “I don’t even like the kid.”

That drew a laugh from Preuss and MacElhaney, who then got serious and said, “He’s going to do an awesome job. I have no doubt. He’s been in sales for about 10 years now. Prior to that he was installing and serving.

“And we still make him go out – well, I guess I can’t make him go out, because he’s my boss now – but he’ll go out and do service work and stuff like that as required.”

Doing what’s familiar and proven successful is fine with Preuss.

“Hopefully,” he said, “we just keep chugging along like it has been for the last 40 years, 50 years.”