CELEBRATING 35 YEARS!

CEO John Kavula, Executive Vice President Chris Johnson, COO Jerry Lightner, and President Mike Henley

On January 23, 1984, APG opened its doors and began providing quality electrical installations in Tampa Bay. On that day thirty-five years ago, our staff consisted of only three people – John Kavula, his wife Pat, and Jerry Lightner. But by the end of that very first year, we had over 25 employees and more than $1,100,000 in sales! We continued to grow, becoming one of the most respected electrical contractors in the state with a reputation for exceptional service and quality.
​
In 1994, we expanded beyond basic electrical construction and service, adding electrical engineering and design as well as installation and service of low voltage systems such as fire alarm, voice/data/video, security, and building automation. Later, building information modeling and audio/visual systems were added. With all of these skills under one roof, we became a truly full-service electrical contractor, backed by a diverse team of professionals from across the industry.

---

​Five of our original employees from 1984 are still working for APG. They can attest to the fact that, after all our growth, we have continued to follow the same principles that guided us in the beginning: pursue excellence, inspire a team spirit, make customer service our main priority, provide a work environment that allows our employees to enjoy giving their very best, and do whatever it takes to complete every job on time and in budget.

Employees proudly displaying recognition of our award-winning work

While we continue our commitment to those principles, growth does inevitably bring change, and we’re constantly working to improve! Some of the positive changes that have been implemented in the past five years include expanding our engineering group to provide full mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, and technology engineering services. We opened Root Integrated Systems LLC, an audio/visual technology subsidiary company in Ohio. Our commitment to safety was bolstered by bringing on Safety Director Sean Hendry, establishing a monthly safety awareness award, and launching our Safe Driving Program with the goal of eliminating accidents and injuries in both company and personal vehicles. We increased our focus on employee wellness by offering health insurance discounts to everyone actively pursuing a healthy lifestyle, introducing our APG Tobacco-Free Initiative, and providing a wholesome and inexpensive lunch in our APG Café.
 
To stay ahead of our growth and provide quality leadership at every level of the company, President Mike Henley and Executive Vice President Chris Johnson announced the appointment of seven new officers of APG. We now employ almost 450 people, over 100 more than just five years ago! As we’ve continued to scale up, we’ve needed more space for company functions like our annual Safety, Service & Apprenticeship Awards Party, which was held at Ruth Eckerd Hall for the first time last year. Our Clearwater headquarters needed to be expanded and renovated too, and we showcased the new offices in July at our Open House event. It was a big hit with architects, engineers, general contractors, and our industry partners from all over Tampa Bay.
 
Our expertise and commitment to customer satisfaction have earned us the continued trust of our customers. Repeat business is the greatest compliment we can receive, so we were truly honored to be awarded full engineering and construction contracts for the expansion projects taking place at St. Joseph’s Hospital North and St. Joseph’s Hospital South. The original construction of these two hospitals remain the largest projects in our company’s history and we’re proud to contribute to their success.

Mike Henley, Steve Tallyn, and John La Fuze at our last APG Golf Tournament

We look forward to more exciting milestones over the coming years as we strive to find new and better ways to exceed our customers’ expectations in all of our specialties. Please join us in congratulating the APG team on 35 years of excellence!