While speaking about Vent-A-Hood—a company founded in Dallas in 1933 and relocated to Richardson in 1961—Vice President of Sales Miles “Bill” Woodall IV, a Marine Corps veteran, oscillates between exuding family pride and offering industry insight.
The facility features a hallway with an image-centric timeline, including a portrait of Woodall’s great-uncle Carr P. Collins, Sr. who financed Vent-A-Hood in 1937 and recruited his nephew, Miles Woodall Jr., to manage the company.
In a nutshell
Vent-A-Hood manufactures home kitchen ventilation and range hoods. Bill Woodall said 93% of the canopies produced at Vent-A-Hood are standard shapes but they have developed a reputation for creating custom shapes and those requests make up about 7% of their canopy production.
Bill Woodall points to their patented Magic Lung as being a major factor in the company’s longevity. The blower system uses centrifugal force to separate all grease from cooking vapors and removes smoke, steam, odors, heat and harmful gases from the kitchen air without a conventional filter.
Zooming in
Situated on 9 acres on Greenville Avenue, the company employs 100 people and hires temporary employees as needed. A Vent-A-Hood employee hall of fame plaque lists 35 people reaching their 20-plus-year mark and many others filling in the 25-50-plus-year categories.
Ralph Eli recently celebrated his quarter-century mark with the company.
Ralph Eli has worked at Vent-A-Hood for over 25 years. (Karen Chaney/Community Impact)“I have known Eli since I was a little boy. I’ve gotten marriage advice from him,” Bill Woodall said. “We have an expression here: If you make it past your 90-day point, you’ll probably make it past your 20-year point.’”
The second floor of the factory is where product design and training departments are housed.
Product training includes an interactive fire demonstration proving that Vent-A-Hood hoods will keep flames from going into pipes causing an attic fire.
Meet the CEO
Miles “Skip” Woodall III is Bill Woodall’s father and the current CEO of Vent-A-Hood. Just like his son, Skip Woodall started working at the family business as a child and is also a Marine Corps veteran.
“I was 12 years old when I started working here in 1958,” Skip Woodall said. “I worked in the stock room. I worked days, nights—my dad pushed me harder than anybody.”
As the CEO, Skip Woodall oversees finances.
“[Skip Woodall] doesn’t believe in debt. He has structured it so that we can weather the storm whenever we need to. He’s very responsible with that,” Bill Woodall said. “There’s a lot of companies that have to shut down when something happens. He’s always big about keeping rainy day funds and acting responsibly. I don’t think we would be here without that.”