For three generations, Academy Fire Protection has been a staple in the Maspeth community serving local retailers as well as national chains such as CVS, Rite Aid, Best Buy and Starbucks.
Although the downward spiraling economy has forced many family-owned businesses to shutter or downsize, Academy Fire Protection is doing the opposite. They are expanding into a 5,100 square foot warehouse on Maspeth Avenue and should be into their new space in May.
“This high tech center is going to blow people away,” said Academy CEO Michael Rose, whose grandfather Anthony started the business more than 50 years ago. “It’s a high tech call center that is going to be able to provide a better level of service to all of our clients both local and national.”
Academy Fire Protection has been in Queens since 1972, and Rose said the company currently has 140 employees on a national level with the majority of those employees concentrated in the Maspeth area.
Many of those employees have been with the company for a number of years, and Rose believes that the company’s approach to caring about their employees has resonated and kept many of them with Academy for a long time.
Academy Fire Protection provides centralized fire protection services, from system design and equipment specification to installation, code compliance and preventive maintenance to businesses. Rose believes having employees who know their clients is a big advantage for the business, and it allows them to better cater to the individual needs of the businesses they serve.
While some of Academy’s focus has shifted to national clients, Rose believes the new space will help bring back more of an emphasis on the local clients.
“I see our technology being advanced in terms of the employees, vendors and subcontractors,” Rose said. “I see us capturing the local market again.”
