Like many of their customers, co-founders Kevin Colgan and Bulent “Bul” Kelekci are purely self-made. Neither was born with a trust fund or table saw in their hands, working for nearly 30 years to build NH Exteriors until Kevin’s retirement, grateful to be part of a business that changes people’s lives by making homes safer, more resilient and certainly more beautiful. But how did a school teacher with a horticulture degree and a first generation Turkish immigrant with a B.A. in marketing end up starting a home improvement company? For most people, including them, life isn’t a straight line.

In the early 1980s, Kevin moved from Long Island, NY to New Hampshire to join his brother and open a restaurant. Family was important to him, and he’d put himself through school, also supporting a young family at the time, working in kitchens and waiting tables. Unfortunately, back in New Hampshire and in a failing economy at the time, his career was redirected and he ultimately took a job in the home improvement industry. He met future partner Bul who’d started out after college going door to door, selling home improvement services and improving his English in the process. Eventually Bul trained Kevin to sell, the two were never out of touch as Bul started his own company in Amherst. By 1992, they knew they could do it better together and a brand new company, NH Exteriors, was born.

Operating from a basement, the company leased 900 s.f. of subterranean space on Pinewood Road in Suncook for offices, also leasing a small warehouse for roofing, siding, windows and doors supplies. The partners did everything from telemarketing to field sales, hiring laborers, scheduling installations, etc. As the company grew, it became necessary to hire employees but it wasn’t on a bus route—something the partners thought may be an obstacle. Overall, eager applicants responding to NH Exterior’s solid reputation got there anyway.

In time Bul and Kevin leased more and more space until they purchased the entire building and added on a whole new section—something of a second nature when you know how to build and improve things.

Over the years growth has gone in two different directions: adding more and varied products and expanding the territory from a 15-mile basement door radius to 2 hours drive time in four states: New Hampshire; Vermont; Maine and Massachusetts. With nearly 30 employees and completing 15,000+ projects, the company has weathered several recessions—including the infamous Great Recession of 2007-2009 when many businesses shuttered. NH Exteriors is currently finding new ways to operate, grow and thrive in an age of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty, consistently serving New England communities with the highest quality products and highest of standards.