When I was finally able to talk with Mark Evans, president of Burton Plumbing, I knew I had a 15 minute window at most. Thursday he was on a service call. Friday he was juggling administrative duties with service calls from one of the most popular plumbing companies in Omaha. “It makes us happy our customers voted for us again,” Evans says about being chosen Best Plumber in Readers’ Choice balloting. Burton has earned membership in GreenPlumbers USA, an environmentally focused organization consisting of 3,000 plumbers that focus on water conservation. Evans said he flew to Delaware to get certified as a Green Plumber two years ago. As a Green Plumber, Evans says he performs water audits in homes and businesses and recommends environmentally friendly solutions. During a water audit, Evans or a Burton employee will recommend more efficient showerheads and toilets for the interior and outdoor sprinkler systems that turn off when it’s raining. Burton Plumbing has been in business since 1989. Evans has worked at Burton for 15 years. In 2003, he became owner of the business that currently has 55 employees. Evans estimates 80 percent of Burton’s business comes from residential customers. He estimates his business takes about 1,300 service calls each month. Because Burton did not focus its business on new construction, it managed to grow even during a recession. “We’ve been blessed,” Evans says. Burton says establishing trust with customers was essential, especially for those who are leery of calling a plumber. For each service call, Burton Plumbing conducts a follow-up call where the customer is asked to evaluate their experience on a scale of 1-to-10. If the grade is lower than a nine, Burton sends out a Volkswagen bug on a “happy call” to the residence. The person then asks how the company could do better in the future.