As APG begins our 37th year, we wanted to provide an overview of the history of our brand. Branding is something that might easily be taken for granted, but it’s a very important tool to differentiate us from our competitors and to build trust with our customers. Here is the background story of the thought and effort that have gone into our brand over the years. 
 
In November 1983, John Kavula and Jerry Lightner were finalizing their plans to open an electrical contracting company in the Tampa Bay area. John started brainstorming company names and submitting them to the Doan Electric principals from the Goulder and Heiser families who were supporting this new endeavor. Edmund Goulder decided on AP Electric in honor of his father, the founder of The Doan Electric Company, A.P. Goulder. However, that company name was already registered in Florida, so Edmund changed it to APG Electric. John wasn’t sure about the idea of using only initials for our name, but was reminded by Alan Goulder that “if it’s good enough for IBM and UPS, it’s good enough for us.” And it has been, for 36 years. 
 
The next challenge was selecting a logo. Alan Goulder designed the original, which was used for a year before being slightly modified to make it easier to read. After experimenting with midnight blue and silver, John chose midnight blue and burgundy on a light gray background for our colors because they coordinated well. We kept this combination for ten years. 
 
In 1994, everything came together for a new logo, stationery, marketing brochure, and our move into the current Clearwater headquarters. Our fresh start began with the help of graphic designer Liz Cherry, who had moved into a suite next to us in the Live Oaks center in 1993. We had struggled with the gray stationery not looking clean when copied, and the fine line of burgundy closely surrounding our midnight blue logo was difficult to produce. The stationery was switched to white, the colors were changed to teal and purple, Liz designed a new logo and brochure, and we moved into our new space. 
 
After serving us well for twenty years, it was time to modernize our colors and logo in 2014. Our company had also expanded beyond just electrical contracting, so the main brand became simply APG. Each group (Electric, Engineering, Technology, Life Safety, and Security) now has their own custom, targeted logo, falling under the main APG umbrella. Our colors were changed to the dark and light blue that we use currently, with a new logo, headers, website, and vehicle lettering.  
 
As we move into 2020, we will continue to make improvements. We are now using our brand on social media to connect more quickly and easily with our employees and customers. But no matter what may change, our commitment to doing it right, down to the tiniest detail, will always remain the same. We will keep striving to make sure that our public image proudly reflects the hard work, skill, and dedication of our team. 

He worked at the Republic Steel Corporation as a co-op student while at Fenn College, and then full time from graduation until 1981. While there, he became one of the founding engineers of the Nucleonics Division, which supervised the use of nuclear furnaces for the production of steel, and served as the corporation’s radiation control officer.
 
After moving to Florida, Mr. Radcliffe began a second career. When APG needed a professional engineer, he left behind his comfortable retirement to help. He came on board in March of 1991 to supervise our engineering work as our Vice President of Engineering and the qualifier of the business. As the group expanded, his role changed, but his devotion to the job and his high level of professionalism never diminished. He cherished everything about APG and loved reading the Pipeline, saving every issue.
 
After 26 years with us, Tom retired in January 2017, but his influence can still be felt. Each year, a member of the Engineering Group is honored with The Thomas J. Radcliffe Engineering Excellence Award, to recognize the continuous display of the highest standards of morality, character, integrity, and engineering performance. Tom leaves a legacy of excellence.
 
After hearing of his passing, many who knew him shared that “he was such a nice gentleman.” He will be truly missed by our entire team. Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time.

Every year, APG attends the Florida Healthcare Engineering Association’s (FHEA) Annual Meeting and Trade Show. The FHEA holds their trade show in conjunction with the annual seminar put on by the Office of Plans and Construction in the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). These two events combined draw thousands of professionals in the healthcare facilities industry from all over the state, and this year was no exception!
 
The conference took place at the Orlando World Center Marriott on October 7th and 8th, showcasing the theme: “Expanding the Horizons of Healthcare.” APG was well represented by employees from all over the company. Our booth at the trade show was a major hit and hundreds of visitors stopped by to discuss trends in construction, upcoming projects, and where the industry is headed. A television screen scrolled through pictures of our many completed and ongoing healthcare projects and team photos of the groups behind them. We are incredibly proud of the work of our field technicians and this booth gave us a chance to show everyone why.
 
While our estimators, project managers, and business developers visited with general contractors, product vendors, and healthcare facilities professionals at the trade show, our engineers attended seminars which prepared them to expand their horizons as to what healthcare environments will become in the future and how to bring to life the ideas and designs that clients will be looking for. Various break-away sessions gave them an opportunity to network with other designers from all over Florida and to explain why the APG engineering model is proving so successful. When one company is able to provide full MEPT engineering services and then actually install the electrical and low voltage systems themselves, the owner wins.
 
The FHEA and AHCA trade show gives us a fantastic opportunity to sharpen our skills, make new contacts, and even catch up with old friends from jobs we’ve completed over the years. We are already looking forward to next year’s event. Who knows what we’ll have accomplished by then!

We are proud to announce that we have once again won an IEC Excellence in Construction award! This award recognizes our outstanding work at the City of St. Petersburg Police Headquarters Facility/EOC. Congratulations to each and every person whose expertise and dedication made this project a success.
 
These prestigious Awards of Excellence are only presented to a handful of companies at the annual IEC National Convention and Expo. This year, Tim White attended the Awards Gala in St. Louis, Missouri to accept the award on our behalf. To be considered for this recognition, APG submitted an entry package that included photos, letters of recommendation, and narratives describing the projects and their unique challenges. We were happy to do this on behalf of the hardworking technicians who brought this very important project to life. We are especially proud of the skill our Technology Group brought to this project each and every day. Keep up the award-winning work!

After several years of hard work, APG was very excited to see the St. Joseph’s Hospital North campus open in 2010. We were chosen by BayCare’s construction manager to provide electrical, fire alarm, nurse call, and security services for the brand-new facility. This project remains one of the largest in our company’s history, and a picture of the finished hospital is proudly displayed in the lobby of our Clearwater headquarters.
 
Since then, the Lutz area has grown at a phenomenal rate. To meet the needs of its current and future patients, BayCare decided to add two more floors on top of the existing hospital, doubling the inpatient bed capacity from 108 to 216. The expansion also adds to the intensive care unit, the progressive care units, physical and respiratory therapy, and a dedicated hemodialysis unit. Once complete, an additional 200 people will be needed to staff the 128,000 square foot space. Adding new floors to an existing and operational hospital is an incredibly challenging task. Rooftop equipment has to be demolished and relocated, all while maintaining service to the floors below.
 
APG was awarded the engineering contract to provide mechanical, electrical, plumbing, medical gas, fire protection, and technology engineering design services. Part of this scope included determining how to construct the new floors in a way that minimally impacted BayCare’s signature patient experience. This began with a comprehensive study and analysis of the existing facility’s infrastructure. Eventually, a carefully coordinated phasing plan was generated and provided to bidders for competitive pricing. Our engineering team’s professional skill shined throughout the design process, and their success on such a complicated project has led to additional engineering contracts on other BayCare facilities.
 
Then in April of last year, as the design progressed and we competitively bid the project, APG was selected by Barton Malow to provide electrical, fire alarm, and voice/data for this expansion. We’re extremely honored to be worthy of BayCare and Barton Malow’s continued trust in our work.
 
Although this project won’t be completed until the spring of next year, we couldn’t wait to feature it because of the tremendous effort our team has put forth so far. Special thanks to Senior Estimator Jonathan Henley, Senior Project Manager Ron Mueller, and Project Superintendent Eric Beal. We are particularly proud of Eric. He came to APG right out of high school just ten years ago, with no electrical experience. We’ve watched him grow from a green helper to an apprentice to a journeyman electrician and a project superintendent. He’s an amazing example of what you can achieve with hard work, and we’re very happy that he chose to become part of the APG family. We can’t wait to see what more he’ll accomplish in the future!
 
It takes dozens of people who are part of a dedicated team to succeed on a project this challenging, and we’d like to thank each and every person who is contributing to its success. Keep up the great work! Stay tuned for an upcoming article that will feature a major expansion at St. Joseph’s Hospital South.

APG has reached another milestone—we closed on the purchase of our Clearwater headquarters July 26th! After 25 years, we are proud to own our building and are grateful for the tireless efforts of those who made it possible. 
 
Before moving to our current location, APG leased space in the Live Oaks Center in Largo on Ulmerton Road. The location was easy to find, but the traffic was a major downside. Because it was situated on a heavily congested, main thoroughfare, entering and exiting the parking lot sometimes felt like gambling with your life. Having already remodeled and grown in that space, we realized that we needed more opportunity for expansion. So began our search for a building that would better suit our needs. 
 
It was difficult to find anything at first, but the pieces all fell into place when we found our current building on 140th Avenue North in Clearwater. Completion of the Bayside Bridge made it a central location, easily accessible from anywhere in Tampa Bay. We started out with approximately 12,000 square feet of office area spread over common areas and 12 offices, with about 7,000 square feet for the warehouse.  
 
That was only the beginning. Almost before we moved in, we needed more space. Our commitment to quality meant that we continued to expand the services we offered, rather than subcontracting, to ensure that our customers received only the best. Providing fire alarm, technology, security, and engineering in-house meant that we were in control and could deliver on our promises. It also meant that we had to enlarge our headquarters to provide enough room for each new group.  
 
Over the years, multiple buildouts have been necessary. We currently occupy approximately 49,000 square feet of office space with 120 individual offices and 10,000 square feet of warehouse space, including our automotive center. Until we grow into the entire building, we will be leasing out suites A and B. Please contact Chris Johnson in the Clearwater office if you are interested. 
 
In the same forward-thinking spirit, we are proud to announce the opening of our new Sarasota office. This branch focuses on Engineering, and the location will allow us to better support our clients farther south. Our Engineering Group’s phenomenal growth means that our Clearwater space has become too small. Adam Lester, Bruce Loeppke, Dave Ozimek, Don Netinho, Jonathan Ware, Marija Gumienny, Mike Skene, Sawyer Dobbs, Todd Potter, Tracy Panzarino, and Wesley Campbell will be in Sarasota full-time, with the flexibility of working from Clearwater as needed. Mike Dobbs will oversee both locations. Now we will have a team in each location, ensuring increased market presence, reduced commute times for our employees, and greater productivity. Truly a win-win for everyone!  
 
No matter how many changes APG has undergone, our commitment to quality remains the same. Our growth allows us to better serve our customers, partners, employees, and community. We look forward to continued expansion, going above and beyond in all we do. 

If you’ve passed one of our vehicles recently or visited our website, you might have noticed the minor change to our company logo. If so, you might be wondering why? In response to market changes and to better serve the needs of our customers, our Automation Group has become our Security Group. This reflects our continuing focus on providing security solutions for our customers in today’s challenging world.
 
Security and Fire Alarm now fall under the Life Safety umbrella, with each focusing on their respective aspects of providing a safer building environment. Our Security Group offers access control, video surveillance, intercom, and intrusion detection. Countering physical threats through electronic security is an important consideration for any business, whether it be a hospital, office building, school, or public attraction. We customize access control systems with technology that ensures superior security using card, combination PIN, or biometric readers. Door intercom systems allow for the option of remote unlocking of entry points with voice and video verification. End user software provides for the capability of onsite administration of authorized users and custom report generation. We also provide video surveillance technology that is at the forefront of the industry, allowing our customers to benefit from greater storage capacity, enhanced searching, and the ability to quickly sift through data, all in a cost-effective manner.