Hear from Daniel J. Laird, President, Commonwealth Fire Protection Co.
Share your company’s story:
Commonwealth Fire Protection Company has been providing a variety of Fire Protection services to the mid-Atlantic region for 42 years. Having offices in Leola, PA and Wilmington, DE and holding licenses in PA, NJ, MD, DE, WV and over 50 local jurisdictions, CFPC services both local and regional customers. Through our in-house NICET certified design staff, Inspection staff and highly training project management team, in addition to our in-house capabilities, we have developed an experienced network of construction partners to perform any level of turnkey fire protection construction.
We owe our many years of success to our employees. Due to long term employee retention, employee development and quality company attributes, we are able to offer our customers a high level of expertise, experience and performance which leads to long term customer relationships. With over 90 employees and a combined 950+ years of experience we are able to handle all types of projects. At CFPC we don’t just talk about long term customers we plan for it, train for it and work for it!
What’s an interesting fact about your business most people don’t know?
Commonwealth Fire Protection is 100% employee-owned! On December 31, 2019, CFPC became an S Corporation ESOP. In the transaction, I sold 100% of the ownership interest to a newly created Employee Stock Ownership Trust allowing current and future employees to gain a beneficial ownership interest in the Company without personal investment.
The future of CFPC and the Legacy of our past owners, Jack Scott, Steve Scott, Paul Hoffnagle and Greg Foster were at the very heart of this decision. We have learned all too well the importance of succession planning over the past five years with the sudden loss of Stephen E. Scott in 2014 and Paul W. Hoffnagle in 2017. By creating the ESOP, we are assuring the legacy and the culture of Commonwealth Fire Protection for many years to come.
The management structure of CFPC continues as it was currently structured. I remained as President/CEO and am also the Chairman of the Board. Charmaine Zercher remains the Controller and Corporate Treasurer. Mike Borkowski remains the Director of Sales and Marketing and Jeff Fromm remains Director of Design Build and Construction. We have been blessed with an awesome team of employees, and the future looks very bright entering into this new phase of business.
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April 9, 2020
