Bullent Kelekci, CEO

Arriving on the steps of New England College in 1973, CEO Bulent “Bul” Kelekci found himself a long way from the life he knew as a farmer’s son in Turkey. But as diverse as the two cultures were, he quickly knew New Hampshire was where he’d make his home. “I’ve been to almost every state in the U.S. by now,” he says. “It’s a good life here. I’d never want to live anywhere else.”

Bul’s first job upon graduation was canvassing door to door, setting appointments for home improvement salesmen. Despite his halting English, he realized that the brochures he carried could help the prospective customer better understand the product. With no pay unless he secured the meeting, incentive was high to do well as $30 per appointment was a lot of money to him. Learning as much as he could, as fast as he could, he was able to start his own Amherst, NH-based company, wherein he eventually teamed with partner Kevin Colgan to form NH Exteriors.

High on the partners’ agenda is a consistent investment in the community, including supporting the Allentown/Pembroke Food Pantry, Pembroke Woman’s Club, Trinity Christian School, Suncook Community Action Program, Pembroke/Allenstown Old Home Day, and the American Cancer Society, among other organizations.

During the 2018-2019 Government Shutdown, NH Exteriors provided thousands of dollars in need-based grants to furloughed local non-essential federal employees experiencing hardships. In 2020, the company announced a challenge to all New England businesses to follow its lead in the Pantry Pledge, providing monthly monetary support to local food pantries, or to each state’s food bank(s), due to the burgeoning impact of COVID-19. “In your work, and in your community, you have to put the effort in—no shortcuts—and you have to treat people right,” he says. “Anything less and it catches up with you.”

Going the extra mile for customers, Bul recalls one job where the homeowner—admitting her mistake—decided she couldn’t live with the color siding she chose. “We stripped it all off and started over,” he says, “absorbing everything so the customer would be happy with the results. They know we’re going to stand by our work.”

Bul and wife Arzu live in an 1851 house on the National Register of Historic Places in Hooksett. The father of three adult children, he spends rare leisure time playing golf with son Michael, who works for the company.

Among his best memories is a recent one: driving by a house in Northwood with Michael, on which siding had been installed 40 years ago. “It was the very first job I ever sold, even before NH Exteriors,” he says. “We walked right up to it and it still looked awesome.”

He adds that “everything we sell is forever—or almost forever! You do it once and if it’s done right, it will last. You sell a car and it’s dead in 10 years, but what we do really lasts. And it’s not a luxury item; it’s not frivolous. You need a roof like you need food. I’m proud we can do that for people.”

Michael Kelekci, Operations Manager

As NH Exteriors’ operations manager, Michael took his first steps around the family-owned business early in the 1990s when his father, CEO Bull Kelekci, introduced him—with his group of Power Rangers in tow—to the many facets of the home improvement industry.

During summer vacations Michael learned the business from the ground up, doing everything from filing to unloading trucks. He studied all he could about products, service, installation and sales. Except for four college years in NY, he says he wouldn’t live or work anywhere but New England, with the business squarely in his DNA. “Where else can you go from a hard day’s work right to a boat on Lake Winnipesaukee?”

Working formerly as a product specialist, one of many hats he wore in educating himself about how things work, Michael crisscrossed the region logging up to 1,000 miles a week. He always felt privileged when people welcomed him into their living rooms.

“I saw everything from historic homes to new construction and anything in between. These houses are people’s personal Taj Mahals, or Versailles Palaces, because of what the concept of home really means to each of us. You want it to look the best it can be. You want to never have to worry about it. You want it to stand out on your road so people can be impressed when they see it. I like that we can help achieve that.”

In the end, as operations manager, it’s Michael’s job to meet and exceed customer expectations.

“It’s my responsibility to make sure we don’t show up for work with something the homeowner is not expecting, or wanting, or with less material than we’ll need to complete the job as quickly and efficiently as possible—especially in this time of COVID when materials can be in short supply,” he said.

The process starts by keeping the entire company running like a well-oiled machine. A laser focus lets him adeptly juggle 60 to 75 projects at a time, in various stages, ranging from ordering materials to monitoring active builds. He deals with manufacturers, makes sure installers know exactly how the job needs to be executed, checks that they’re on the jobsite each day, and that’s after he makes sure the customer is called to confirm the company is coming out on a specific day. “I open it up and I close it up,” he says of his long days at the office.

“Our ordering process alone is so precise it involves three separate sets of eyes signing off on each page before we press ‘submit,’” he says. “People want their homes to be a legacy home, even if their children have no interest in acquiring it. They may have raised their family there, and it deserves our very best attention.”

One of his fondest memories is in fulfilling a special homeowner request while out in the field years ago as a service tech. On a window service visit one frigid winter day, an elderly customer pointed sheepishly to a roof buried in several feet of snow and ice, asking if Michael and his coworker would climb up and remove it.

“I told him of course we would. We don’t usually get up there with ice picks and shovels. But in a situation like that, there was no way I’d have slept nights without helping him.”