From left: Kevin Trask, owner/delivery driver; Neil Ide, owner/inside sales; Benjamin Spears, Nicholas Ide, Caleb Spears, Alexander Ide,
Joshua Madigan, yard help; Mike Madigan, delivery driver; Derek Madigan, owner/general manager. (Photo Courtesy of Pipe Connections)
When Derek Madigan started working as general manager for Center Harbor-based Pipe Connections, he immediately knew he wanted his brothers-in-law working alongside him.
“It seemed like a no-brainer at the time,” Madigan says. “There’s not too many people you can trust more than family.”
In 2017 Madigan hired Neil Ide, who “does everything for us,” from sales and delivery to business operations. The next year, they convinced Kevin Trask to leave his “really good job” at UPS to run their delivery operation. Ide and Trask are each married to Madigan’s sisters.
Once Ide and Trask were on board, the trio “decided we wanted to go full bore, all the way in,” Madigan says, and purchased the business in 2019.
Since then, Pipe Connections has grown. Revenue grew 20% between 2024 and 2025 alone. And June 2026 was a record-setting month for sales, driven in large part by referrals from existing customers. To keep up with demand, the owners recently hired Madigan’s father, who helps with deliveries and around the shop. Five of the owners’ children, who range in age from 12 to 16, also work for the business part-time during the summer. “It’s all family,” Madigan says.
Knowing that the extended family is relying on the success of the business keeps the owners focused. “We look at this as our livelihoods,” Madigan says. “It’s something we want to build for the future, for our kids to potentially step into our shoes one day and keep it going.”
Already, their sons are learning the importance of hard work and taking responsibility around the shop. “They don’t always need to be told what to do,” Madigan says. "They can go out and do what they know needs to be done.”
A few of the boys have started talking about taking over the business in the future (none of the owners’ daughters seem interested yet, Madigan says). That confirms to Madigan that he and his brothers-in-law made the right choice when they purchased the company. “Ever since then,” he says, “it’s been the best decision we’ve ever made.”
