Orion’s Vision as a Forever Holding Company: Q&A with CEO Isaiah Brown

Instead of buying companies and selling them a few years later, Orion’s model is to be a forever home for exceptional field services businesses and the people who run them. In this Q&A with CEO Isaiah Brown, we explore why Orion has embraced a permanent holding model and what this means for owners and leaders.

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Q: Why is a permanent holding company the right model for Orion?

Both the markets we’ve entered and the teams we’ve built lend themselves to very long time horizons. The opportunity in front of us is not a five-year runway. It’s a decades-long horizon.

There are over a trillion dollars of annual revenue in commercial field services in the U.S. alone, and there are thousands of companies at an inflection point where they would benefit from a partner like Orion. A long-term owner can help these companies navigate leadership transitions, fund growth, and mature into enduring businesses.

For us, the common thread is people. We’ve built teams we love working with and are excited about their potential. Our model is to give them the ownership, support, and time to build a lasting legacy.

For example, at Air Comfort, our fourth investment, we partnered with a team that wanted a long-term home for their people and their culture. Together, we’ve supported a transition from the founding family to the next generation of leaders, invested in building a deeper bench, and expanded into new services and markets. The business has more than doubled while creating new career paths for technicians, managers, and emerging leaders. With the continued support of a long-term investor, Air Comfort has the chance to double again over the next five years while creating even more opportunity for the team.

Q: Most investors prefer to hold companies for three to five years before selling. Why is Orion taking a different approach?

A three-to-five-year horizon pushes investors to optimize for what can be fixed, dressed up and sold in a short window. That can work financially but often limits what you can do for the business and the people inside it. You don’t usually rebuild the talent pipeline or re-architect systems if you know you’re going to sell shortly.

We’re trying to do something different: build with a forever time horizon so we can do the things that compound over decades, not just what looks good in a short-term exit model. In our industries, there’s a shortage of the talented field technicians needed to deliver high quality service. Solving that is a decades-long project, and it’s exactly what’s required to build truly exceptional, durable businesses.

Q: Given the forever holding model, how do you define success? What does Orion look like if we’ve achieved our mission?

Our mission is to invest in exceptional people who build enduring, industry-leading businesses. Success starts with creating and supporting excellent teams so they can deliver outstanding care to our customers. When we do that, the flywheel turns: taking care of our people leads to better service, which creates stronger, more resilient businesses and more opportunity for our teams.

If we’re living up to our mission, Orion is the best long-term home for talented people in field services, the most trusted partner for customers, and a group of market-leading businesses compounding for decades.

Q: What does the forever holding mindset mean for leaders who want to join Orion or one of our partner companies?

We want Orion to be a forever home for talented people, a place where they can build their careers over decades if they choose to. That means real autonomy, the ability to grow quickly, and the satisfaction that comes from doing meaningful, high-quality work.

The flip side is that we set a very high bar. We expect a lot from ourselves and each other. Our leaders have a remarkable amount of autonomy and ownership, and with that comes the responsibility to deliver exceptional results. For people who want that opportunity, this is a place where they can spend their careers surrounded by similarly driven teammates.

Q: What does the forever holding company model mean for business owners who are thinking about selling their business to Orion?

We’re not looking to buy, polish, and flip your business. We want to be a long-term home for you and your team, and we care deeply about how your people, your customers, and your legacy.

In traditional investing structures, ownership – and often values – can change hands multiple times. With Orion, right off the bat, you’re meeting the people you’re going to be working with for the long haul. And you know you can always understand the values of the people you’re working with because they have a long-term commitment to upholding those values.

Q: If Orion is a forever holding company, will you ever sell a business?

Our default is to own businesses indefinitely. When we acquire a company, we don’t start by asking, “Who will we sell this to in five years?” We start by asking, “What would we do if we were going to own this for decades?”

Very rarely, we may sell a business. If a strategic partner can create even more opportunity for the team and customers than we can, or if a business is no longer core to Orion’s focus and would grow better elsewhere, we would approach a sale with the same long-term mindset we bring to ownership and a clear commitment to doing right by the people who have trusted us.

Q: What excites you personally about this forever holding company strategy?

I love what we’re building, and I want to do this forever. This strategy lets me stay focused on this mission with this wonderful group of people.  

Throughout my career I had people in my corner who gave me big opportunities and held me to high standards. That changed my life. I want Orion to be that kind of place for others: a home for people who want someone in their corner pushing them, believing in them, and giving them meaningful opportunities.

Time is the friend of an exceptional team, and this structure gives us time. An indefinite time horizon is rare in investing and makes Orion meaningfully different from the other options business owners and leaders have. What excites me most is the compounding effect of great people, wonderful businesses, high standards, and a long runway. I think this strategy will power our success, and the growth of our people and businesses, for decades to come.