Paige Electric: The Gamechanger

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A dynasty set by Lou Grotta at Paige Electric is upheld by a group of employee-loving leaders.

When a few friends founded Paige Electric in 1958, the company was not employee owned; rather it was a limited partnership with stock split between only a few. After some time in business, however, Lou Grotta converted his business strategy to allow employees to buy stock through a loan program.

The generosity didn’t end there. At a holiday party, Grotta handed over the loan he had given his employees to buy stock in the company, and told them to throw it away. By forgiving the loan, he ensured that going forward the employees would own Paige Electric.

“This is just one incredible example of the spirit of this company,” said David Coleman, Vice President of Business Development at Paige Electric. “There’s always been a culture here to treat our people and customers the way we want to be treated.”

On the eve of its 60th anniversary, the manufacturer and supplier of wire, cables, cable assemblies, and electrical accessories to specialized markets is running with a new executive team, and expanding into the data market with its new division, Paige DataCom Solutions.

The New Leaders

Grotta had a long and successful tenure as CEO of Paige, unique in a world where CEO burnout is more common than not after half a decade. But when it was time to pass on the reins, he chose a leadership team with an incredible amount of experience in the field.

David Coleman, along with his father and company CEO James Coleman and his brother-in-law Brandon Nagler, are now a part of the Paige Electric team.

“We’ve been a part of the wire business for four generations,” David Coleman said. “Our first company—Coleman Cable—grew into a large diversified manufacturer of wire and cable. Genesis Cable Systems, a low voltage business, grew quickly, and was eventually acquired by Honeywell in 2004. We bring a wealth of experience and knowledge, both from the manufacturing side and the integrated-supply-chain side.”

Most importantly, the Colemans are committed to continuing the legacy Grotta created, and they are ready to take the business to the next level.

“It’s staying employee-owned, with a familial culture,” Coleman said. “Now, it’s time to capitalize on the natural evolution of the low voltage group into the DataCom Division.”

The company has several divisions, with about half of them touching water in some way: irrigation, precision agriculture, and pump wire, to name a few. Leadership at the company has identified several new exciting areas for growth and the first market for increased focus is the datacom sector.

DataCom Division

Paige DataCom Solutions’ customer-driven philosophy continues through new solution sets for LAN/WAN enterprise and data centers for end users and system integrators in the intelligent building and data center spaces.

From high voltage, medium voltage, and low voltage solutions to system interconnects, copper, fiber, cabinets, and security solutions, Paige expects to directly impact its customer's businesses through innovative products enabling cloud, colocation and enterprise data centers, intelligent buildings, and campus deployments.

“There is a growing business need for the solutions Paige Electric provides, and it makes for a competitive marketplace,” said Coleman. “Many customers see a very well-defined, narrow focus from companies at the top that doesn’t fit their model. We bring the total package, the expertise and value to a wider set of the marketplace. We service Tier 1s, but we’re not focusing exclusively there.”

Big companies like Johnson Controls, and leaders in the security market like Tyco and ADT, use Paige DataCom Solutions to make their buildings more intelligent and efficient. This includes security systems to fire alarm and voice connected devices.

The company also rounds out its offerings with more advanced offerings including CAT 6A, CAT7A, high-speed interconnects, and fiber. On top of that, Paige also provides logistics support and some of the accessories necessary for using or storing its products.

But its newest product is a game changer.

Gamechanger Cable

No, really. Paige DataCom Solutions’ newest product is the GameChanger Cable, named for the conversations many of Paige Electric’s employees have had with customers about it.

“When a customer hears what it’s capable of, they always say it’s a ‘game changer’. I was speaking to someone about it just last week who said, ‘this will be a game changer for us.’ I pointed to the name on the legend of the cable and we had a good laugh.”

The product allows for high-definition video and PoE+ 2.5 times the distance of standard cable. While this doesn’t seem like a big deal to people outside of the industry, trust us, it is.

Standard category cable has a limited distance that a cable can be run from a camera—say a security camera—to the network connection. With only 328 feet of capability, the installers have to add electronics and connections in between security cameras and the network.

This means that upgrading analog coax CCTV systems usually requires additional intermediate repeaters or IDFs.

“That means more money, and more time to deliver that signal. This product was designed specifically to combat this problem,” Coleman said.

The company designed it from the ground up to install like CAT 5 or CAT 6 but optimized for long distance transmission of power and video.

“It’s been on the market for about a year. The first customers were naturally skeptical, but many of our biggest customers in the world have put it through its paces. It’s patent pending tech we’re the only company offering this.”

Steady Growth for Paige Electric

Companies that offer innovation, an unmatched quality, and are employee-owned are hard to come by. Paige Electric has been doing things this way for a long time and has proven the model works.

As the company continues on its upward trajectory, one thing will stay the same.

“We want to continue to have the same culture: people who really care about their customers’ success, who treat their clients’ money as if it is their own. We have subject matter experts, but more importantly, they are just good people.”