In 1909 John E. Green founded a plumbing and heating business with $20.00 in cash, strong arms, a great deal of courage and faith and the added responsibility of a new child and an ailing wife. John E. Green Company's first location was a store at Woodland and Oakland, at the end of a streetcar line and just inside the city limits of Detroit, Michigan. In those early days John E. Green installed plumbing and simple heating systems in Highland Park’s new residences.

In 1911, John E. Green moved the business to the corner of Tennyson and Bush. John E. Green’s shop and warehouse operated out of the family’s barn where he kept the chickens, homing pigeons and “Old Dan,” the company horse.

As the city of Detroit expanded north, west, and east, the John E. Green Company expanded with it, opening a branch store at Woodward and Ten Mile in Royal Oak to service the new suburbs. During the company's first decade and even into the Roaring Twenties, the company’s ten to fifteen employees were continuously employed servicing the luxurious new residences of the North Woodward and Grosse Pointe areas.

When the stock market collapsed in 1929, the Woodward store closed and operations were consolidated back to the Highland Park office. The company survived the Depression by doing repair and remodeling work.

In 1934, John E. Green Company entered a new era, by landing its first industrial job, the remodeling of a parts warehouse for General Motors. It was the dawning of the company’s investment in industrial and institutional mechanical contracting.

John E. Green Company emerged from the depression landing its first industrial job: the remodeling of the parts warehouse for General Motors. It was during this period of the mid-thirties that John E. Green’s two sons, Ed Green and Don Green, began working fulltime for their father’s company. The boys had grown up with the business helping their father in the store and the shop, doing everything from sweeping to cutting and threading pipe, to canvassing neighborhoods door-to-door.

With both sons in the business, the John E. Green Company began to expand rapidly in the industrial market and institutional fields.

By the sixties the John E. Green Company was recognized as one of the largest mechanical contractors in Michigan. With the addition of Peter J. Green (Ed’s oldest son and John E. Green’s grandson) in 1963, the third generation of the Green family entered the business.

1963 was also the time when the John E. Green Company began one of its largest projects to date, the Chevy Nod Iron Factory in Saginaw, Michigan.

In 1967 a John E. Green Company branch office was opened in Saginaw, MI.

In addition, JEG began doing major construction work with The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and with Michigan State University in East Lansing.

The early seventies were difficult years when an already close-knit family and company became even closer. The company was forced to deal with almost unbelievable losses of vital personnel. In 1973 these losses included the retirement of Fred McEvoy and the death of Fred R. Green who, since 1914, had been a trusted employee.

Then in 1974, Ed Green passed away suddenly.  In 1975 the deaths of Stewart L. Eby, Treasurer, and Jack McGibbon, Vice President and in 1976, the death of Bill McGibbon, General Superintendent left voids in the company's executive leadership. To endure these losses and keep company performance at a high level required a cooperative effort by the entire company.

Don Green took on the tasks of president while Peter Green became the executive vice president. Ray Brunett and Rex Millsap became vice presidents and John R. Green, Ed’s youngest son who joined the company in 1974, assumed the role of secretary-treasurer. Other key employees assumed additional responsibilities and filled the void left during the early seventies.

1985 - Don Green officially retired.

John E. Green Company continued to perform major project for General Motors, as well as Lake Orion and Poletown (Detroit, MI)  assembly plants.

1989 - Peter Green’s son, Michael Green, joined the company on a full time basis bringing the company to its fourth generation of management.

Thanks to the commitment of hard-working, loyal employees, John E. Green Company enjoyed a decade of consistent growth under the leadership of the third and fourth generation of company management. This kind of continuity and the ability to grow in step with changing building technology and contract methodology have always been hallmark of John E. Green Company. They are the foundation of our reputation as a reliable, responsive contractor.

Throughout the 1990's John E. Green Company consistently ranked as  the largest mechanical contracting company headquartered in Michigan and one of the largest in the country.

1992 - A branch office in Nashville, TN opened, becoming JEG's first out of state office.

John E. Green Company performed mechanical work on total remodel of the Chrysler Mack Engine Plant and Energy Center.

1998 - A branch office in Petoskey, MI opened.

2000 - A branch office in Marquette, MI opened.

2000 - John E. Green Company became ISO certified.

John E. Green Company won and completed major projects such as the University of Michigan's Biomedical Center and Life Science Building, YUCCA, Michigan State University's Life Science Building and the William Beaumont Hospital.

During the twentieth century, dramatic changes have taken place in Detroit and in the construction industry. John E. Green Company has grown and adjusted to accommodate these changes. The one constant throughout four generations of business has been John E. Green Company’s promise to perform quality work in an honest and expedient manner.

Now more than 100 years later, John E. Green Company consistently rates as Michigan’s largest mechanical contractor. We’ve developed the people and the procedures required for the installation of the most advanced mechanical systems used to operate today’s modern buildings and manufacturing plants.

2005 - John E. Green Company opened the Service and Maintenance branch, based out of Lansing, Michigan.

2005 - Michael Green became Executive Vice President.

2008 - A branch office opened in Raleigh, North Carolina, becoming JEG's second office to open outside the state of Michigan.

2009 - John E. Green Company celebrates 100 years in business!

John E. Green Company is currently working on the University of Michigan's Mott’s Children’s Hospital. Totaling over $50 million, it is the company's largest contract to date.