The Explorer
This is the third of a 12-part series on community builders who participate in Activate Selma NC.
When Chandler Pernell took over his family’s business, Call Pernell Heat and Air, Inc., in 2019, buying it outright from his dad and uncle, he considered buying the landmark building they’d rented for 45 years in Smithfield as well. What made him choose to relocate to Selma instead?
“Ever since I was a boy, I loved exploring uncharted territory,” he says. When he and his wife, Christina, drove over the railroad tracks in Selma and saw the brick warehouse at 600 East Anderson Street with what looked like a brewery banner on it, they had to check it out. It was vacant, with the Selma train station on one side, and Bailey Feed Mill to the back.
“Two years later, when the property went on the market, I bought it,” he says. “I got nervous because it happened so easily. I thought, when everything is right, the Lord opens the way for you.”
After all new electrical wiring, HVAC, and roof repair, they were ready to ramp up electrical capacity so he could provide in-house training for his crew on all their units, installing two heating systems, a gas furnace and air conditioning, a heat pump, and two mini split systems – one for two rooms, and one for a single room.
One of the items left behind by the former property owner, the late antique dealer TW McLamb, was a church pew. Chandler confides how early on, Selma Baptist’s Pastor Todd Daniels sat on that pew and prayed with him.
“He prays over all the buildings in Selma. Up to that point I was having fun, but he made it serious, you know? He said, ‘God, this boy is taking a huge risk, moving his whole business into a new town.’ He was bringing the Light. I was scared, but I felt good. He was putting it in the Lord’s hands. Whether I was here by my nature to explore or I was driven by the environment, I am here in Selma now.”
An Insider’s View
The same curiosity led Chandler to Activate Selma.
He’d met one of the co-founders, Jeff Hamilton, through the Triangle East Chamber, and at the time, Chandler was serving on the board of My Kids Club, which had a temporary location in the trailers behind Selma Elementary School. Today, the organization has become the Boys and Girls Club of Johnston County and is located in the newly built SECU Community Clubhouse in Selma, and, by 2027, will expand to the Sarah Yard Community Center in Smithfield.
“Jean Kelly called me and said, ‘Hey, there’s this Activate Selma meeting tomorrow, can you come by and speak about the club?’” Chandler says. “That was my first interaction. It was a nice spring day – April 2021. I walked behind the school, and there were probably 20 people back there. Soon everybody was going around the circle, sharing. Ron Hester is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet. I relaxed.”
The next Activate Selma meeting Chandler attended moved to On Beat, Selma Baptist’s Drum Ministry in a studio downtown. “I love drums. I grew up playing them,” he says. “Todd was hosting, and he was super cool.” Daniels is a former rock band drummer, and mentors middle school youth. “I told Christina, I’m going back.”
The next meeting he attended moved to Mitchener Station, one of the oldest train stations in North Carolina, where the group was having their photograph taken for the Activate Selma book, A Heart for Selma.
“I could see this group wasn’t fake,” Chandler says. “Like the title of the book, I could truly feel the heart. They opened up Mitchener Station, and we got to walk inside. After that, I kept coming because the meetings were often at places I’d never been to. That’s where the explorer in me comes out. I get an insider view.”
Chandler soon learned the Activate Selma motto: We don’t complain, we take action.
“People show up thinking it’s going to be like a Chamber Connections or a BNI group where you’re like, ‘here’s my business card, call me,’” he says. “It’s not like that. You don’t come in here and expect that we are going to do something for you. You learn how to activate yourself, and by bringing your best here, you activate the community. That’s the spirit of Activate Selma. We inspire you to go back out there and be the best person you can be.”
A good example was in 2022, when Chandler, who was vice president of the Johnston County Arts Council at the time, had his Call Pernell team help install a five-panel “Celebrating Love” art mural on the side of Treasury Antiques on Anderson Street.
The project was the creative vision of Selma resident Allyson Caison, who worked hard to bring together the people, resources, and support to make it happen. One of the panels, by Selma artist Percilla Williams, portrays American ballet dancer Misty Copeland. Another panel by Selma artist William Strickland spotlights the Rudy Theatre. Allyson came to Activate Selma with the idea, but she coordinated all the work.
“She brought everyone together, she held the vision and didn’t give up on her vision,” Chandler says. “What’s cool about that, is you can’t do much by yourself. But you can do a lot when you come together.”
An article in the Johnston County Report about Allyson’s project is here. A video by Activate Selma participant and award-winning filmmaker Jason Bullock about Allyson’s mural is here.
Chandler’s Vision
Chandler holds his own vision for business success and the future of the trades. Every morning at the warehouse, he gathers his team at the same wooden table that once graced the warehouse of his dad and uncle. They talk over the issues of the previous day and bring up anything that needs group attention for the day ahead.
“My dad and uncle were really good tradesmen. My uncle, at diagnosing and repairing units; my dad, at designing and selling units. When I took over the company, I had to start focusing on our people. What I saw was turnover. We were burning people out and running them off. I made this my vision, to build this guy with a team behind him.”
Chandler points to the wall poster of a tradesman geared up and ready to work (drawn by his cousin, Karli Pernell Grimes). The figure is surrounded by four words: Good. Right. Fast. Now.
“Any decision I make, I need to answer yes to these four questions,” Chandler says. “Is it good? Am I doing what is right? Am I skilled so I can do it fast? Can we do it now? Because I can’t do anything without my team. It takes all of us – that’s why I start with is it good. We have to be doing good for people.”
The team also role plays before going out to service calls with customers.
“The homeowner has to understand what you’re talking about. Like what is a reversing valve?” Chandler uses for an example. “If you’ve got a heat pump, a reversing valve switches between heat and cooling like putting your car in drive or reverse. If the homeowner doesn’t understand, they’re going to tell you they need to think about it, which is a nice person’s way of getting you out of their house. At that point, they either call their brother-in-law or call your competitor. All they heard was, I got to spend money and I don’t know why. So, if my team can help them understand, they’ve done a good thing.”
Training the Next Generation
With skilled technicians in high demand, and good help hard to find, Chandler has developed a partnership with Johnston Community College to take on apprentices from their hands-on program in Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Technology, like Zack Pilkington, who graduated last year, and Josiah Moore, who graduates in May. The program offers options of a degree, diploma, or certificate. Classes include everything from system installation and repair to practical skills training. “They want their students to succeed,” he says. “They trust us, so they have referred their students to us if they are looking for a job.”
“They’ve got really good instructors over there,” Chandler adds. “You can definitely see the benefit of the education they’re getting. Once they’re in the field, it’s like boot camp on the job. You got to be tough and have a good work ethic. We’re dealing with machinery, gas, and electricity. This stuff is dangerous. These are good people who want to learn and work hard.”
JCC recently hosted the annual SkillsUSA regional competition, a prestigious “track and field” meet for the trades that is charged with energy and creativity. Josiah Moore earned fourth place. In fact, three out of the top five winners came from JCC’s program. Winners at the state level will move on to compete in events at the national SkillsUSA Leadership & Skills Conference in June 2026.
Chandler serves on the board of Activate Selma now. His own action project has been the Activate Selma Tool Bag Project. In May, he’ll be presenting tool bags on behalf of the nonprofit to 14 graduates of the JCC HVAC program.
The Famous Yard Signs
Call Pernell signs proliferate around the Triangle East region, taking on seasonal shapes of wreaths, hearts, suns, and pumpkins, as well as the original one-sides drawn by children around the time of the annual Boys and Girls Club Selma Railroad Run 5K -- this year will be their 50th on September 19, 2026 at 8:30 am – sign up has already started.
“You know how long it took us to get these Call Pernell yard signs going? Years,” says Chandler. “Now, last week a lady in Newton Grove called and said, ‘Hey, somebody took my yard sign!’ She wanted it back, because it’s decorative. It speaks to community, so they like having them up, especially the ones that the Boys & Girls Club make on one side.”
And here’s Chandler, still showing up at Activate Selma meetings, five years later. And now he’s helping to move the famous yellow metal “Activate Selma meets here this Wednesday” sign from location to location.
“We’re setting an example for other towns. I’m of a bonus mindset. I think the Lord’s given us this earth with enough resources that we can all thrive. I don’t think it’s Smithfield or Selma. I support both. As a 12-year-old, going to see the Mudcats, we thought we were just high cotton, man, getting baseballs autographed. Next year it will be the Tobs and Tater Hogs. We should be working together for all the towns around us. I’m on the side of the leader – that’s Johnston County.”
Read more about Chandler Pernell in the April 2026 Home and Garden issue of JNOW magazine, on newsstands now!
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