William A. “Bill” Fink has been known
to utter a phrase that was passed down
to him by his grandfather — “It isn’t
bragging if you did it.” As the founder,
owner, president and CEO of Area Wide
Protective Inc., Fink has a lot of bragging to do for all that he’s accomplished.
Fink previously worked in the radio
broadcasting, public service and insurance industries before purchasing Mid-American Security Service Inc., a small
contract security guard company, in
1992. In 1995, the company was on the
verge of bankruptcy and had many problems to deal with — a competitive market that offered thin margins, numerous
liability issues and a small number of
reliable employees. Fink decided to do a
complete 180 and switch the company’s
direction. He created AWP and delved
into the world of temporary traffic control service for the public utility industry.
Fink’s choice was a smart one. The company now operates in 12 states and serves
many of the country’s largest public utility
companies, including First Energy,
American Electric Power, Columbia Gas,
Verizon, Dominion Resources, Allegheny
Power and Duke Energy.
The company has also had an impact
on the Akron area, creating more than
400 jobs. The company had 210 employees in 2003 and is up to 650 in 2007. It
has also had roughly 22 percent annual
increase in sales during the past five
years.
Fink has also changed the way the traffic control industry is viewed. Public
utility companies previously had no
cohesive solution for traffic control, but
AWP now offers its services to numerous
companies across the country. Flaggers
in construction zones were once looked
at as marginal and unskilled employees, whereas now AWP has set the standard
for work-area protection and training,
only hiring the best of the best. All
employees must go through a pre-employment drug screening and motor
vehicle and criminal background
checks.
AWP has also raised the bar for safety in
construction zones with a spotless safety
record on more than 10,000 temporary
construction sites for the past 15 years and
has provided on-time response to more
than 20,000 electrical power outages.
HOW TO REACH: Area Wide Protective Inc., (330) 644-0655 or
www.awptrafficsafety.com
