Best friends and business partners serving the Sandpoint community for nearly 20 years By Jillian Chandler
Matt McArthur was born and raised in Sandpoint and is fifth generation. After graduating from Sandpoint High School in 1994, he immediately enrolled at North Idaho College’s HVAC trade school, where he met his “now best friend and business partner,” Tim McConnell. Prior to meeting each other, Tim, a graduate of Clarkston High School in Clarkston, Washington, joined the Air Force and became a fire truck mechanic stationed in Alaska and South Carolina. “We always knew we wanted to eventually make it back to the Pacific Northwest, and my wife and I moved to Sandpoint in 1992 after four years of service,” Tim reflects. After working at the local mill, Tim decided to pursue another trade, attending NIC’s HVAC program in Coeur d’Alene. Both Matt and Tim have been in the business of HVAC for 30 years each! Today, they are the proud owners of High Mark Heating & Cooling, which they established on January 1, 2005, with 2025 to mark their 20th year in business!“
We’ve always enjoyed working with our hands,” Matt remarks. “I met an HVAC installer while working on my neighbor’s house when I was 12, working with him occasionally. It just clicked, and I stuck with it.” And for Tim, “I was inspired by the stability of the home comfort industry, as everyone will always need heating and cooling, coupled with my desire to provide a better service and better product.”
High Mark Heating & Cooling provides an array of services to residential and light commercial HVAC systems, including furnaces, heat pumps, ductless systems, hydronic radiant heat, and indoor air-quality solutions such as humidifiers, whole home air purification systems, and HRVs (heat recovery ventilators). In addition, they purchased The Stove Corral in 2013, so they can also provide Bonner County with a wide variety of wood and gas heating appliance options, such as freestanding stoves and fireplaces, as well as pellet stoves.
“We are one of the few companies in Bonner County to offer 24/7 after-hours emergency services,” Tim adds. “When our customers need us the most, we will be there.”
What truly sets High Mark Heating & Cooling apart from the competition is their service. “We strive for excellence in our business by working hard to earn ‘high marks’ and the trust of our customers — whatever it takes! We value integrity, and our culture is really about treating our customers the way we would want to be treated,” Tim states. “Our customers actually are our friends and neighbors, and we pride ourselves on treating them like family.” Sometimes that means talking their customers out of a purchase they don’t need or would never see the payback on, or talking them into repairing a piece of equipment rather than going through the expense of replacing it when not necessary. Matt adds, “Our honesty may be a flaw to some business models, but we need to be able to look our customers in the eye because we will run into them at the grocery store, a restaurant, or a local event.”
Matt and Tim take pride in the fact that each and every one of their employees wants to leave their job being able to be proud of what they did. “Whether a technician or installer, they all set the bar high for themselves and take pride in their work,” Tim affirms.
When it comes to what these friends and business partners find most rewarding about the work they do, Matt shares, “Two things: Arriving to a problem and the problem is resolved when I’m done, and mentoring people from all walks of life.” Tim continues, “When I talk to or see a customer years later, and they still want to thank me for the work we did. I also enjoy teaching employees that mistakes happen; when and how we handle them is what matters, because that’s how people learn and grow.”
When not serving their customers, Matt is devoted to his wife — his high school sweetheart — Alysha. They are fortunate to have raised their three children — now grown — right here in Sandpoint. As for Tim, “I married a Lewiston, Idaho, girl, Kathy, in 1990, and we’ve raised our two children here in Sandpoint.” Both Matt and Tim are grateful for the sense of community Sandpoint provides.
Whether you need a solution for a cooler home in the summer months or heating options for the winter, let Matt and Tim of High Mark Heating & Cooling, your trusted and truly local HVAC contractor, take care of you.
High Mark Heating & Cooling
78 McNeary Road
Ponderay, Idaho
208.263.4797
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