Eddie Mankel says leaders aren’t born, they’re made. He drove a tractor and truck at age 7 for Custom Farm Services; was a busboy/dishwasher at the Chatterbox Restaurant; and at 12 during the summer of 1974, Eddie started working summers for Vern Hancock learning the plumbing trade.
Eddie worked underground at Hecla Mine as an oiler, then for various plumbing companies in the Phoenix area, then was the owner of a sprinkler installation business. In 1999 he started Mankel Mechanical, a plumbing company specializing in new residential, commercial and industrial plumbing.
When Eddie started, Mankel Mechanical, Manny Lopez extended credit to the business based only on a handshake; the two have been business partners for 22 years. Four years ago, the business was expanded to include Two Brothers Plumbing.
Eddie taught his two sons — Vaughn and Shea — how to be plumbers and now relies on them to get the jobs done.
