Associated Lightning Rod Company based in Millerton, NY, provides lightning protection for both residential and commercial structures. Owner Rob Cooper reports the company has over 60 years and three generations of experience: “My father started the business in the 1950s, and I came on board in 1987,” Rob said. “In 2002 I took over and bought my dad out, and I’ve continued to grow the business since. When my dad founded the business, he was a dairy farmer, and dairy farmers had to have lightning protection. Lightning was often the cause of big fires for farmers, and if they lost their barns, they’d lose their livelihoods. They would in fact often lightning protect and insure their barns before their own homes! However, once the dairy business started declining, my dad moved the focus of the business to residential homes, and eventually we expanded the focus further to commercial properties, skyscrapers, and beyond.”

Rob lights up when he shares that Associated Lightning Rod is a family-owned and run business. “Tammy, my wife, is in the office. She does a little bit of everything. She’s my rock! Lisa and Pat are also in the office with Tammy, and they’re amazing. Two of my sons, Robbie and Alex, handle our sales. Robbie is in charge of our residential sales while Alex handles the commercial sales.” Rob continued, “We have four two-man crews that do all of our installs and services.”

Valuable lessons learned and the growth of the business

“I’ve learned a lot, but I’ve found that what’s most important is to focus on the job at hand and to take care of your employees,” Rob explained. “Scheduling is always challenging. It can be tough to schedule with things like the weather playing a part. Likewise, you have to stay on top of accounts receivable. If you don’t, you’ll get behind and you’ll feel it a month later.”

Rob went on to explain that his company’s employee-focused approach is pivotal to its success. “We haven’t had a lot of turnover with employees, because once they get here they tend to stay. Ronald is our longest standing employee; he’s been with us for over 30 years!”

Rob shared that the business has definitely grown through the years. “Since the beginning, the biggest concentration was on lightning protection for residential properties, but we’ve since grown our commercial side and in New York City specifically. We’ve done some really nice landmark buildings,” Rob shared excitedly. “In fact, we recently did the world’s tallest residential building, the Nordstrom Tower. But we also do a lot of hospitals and warehouses.”

“Some of the taller buildings in the city are required to have lightning protection due to insurance mandates. And we are a preferred vendor with insurance companies like Chubb,” Rob explained. “The cost of insurance has been one of the biggest changes in our industry. Everyone knows that insurance costs have gone up. It’s gotten horrendous. Another challenge for us has been getting materials, we never had this issue pre-COVID. But now we often have to wait, which makes things challenging.”

Another contributing factor to Associated Lightning’s success has been its good reputation. Rob explained that they don’t rely on advertising, but rather on word-of-mouth.

Paying it forward

When asked what advice Rob might offer to businesses starting out, he shared, “Just focus on your business and work hard. Anybody that’s anywhere near being successful always talks about hard work. And just focus. Also, get along well with your employees and take good care of them.”

When discussing businesses in our region, Rob said that there are so many types of businesses here. “We all know the challenges that restaurants, for example, have had with the cost of food and materials, and they’ve had to raise prices. Also the issue with turn-over of employees. We don’t have a lot of housing options in our region, which is also part of the problem with getting and retaining employees. I don’t know the solution to this,” Rob shared. “Insurance is another big challenge for businesses. Everybody’s insurance is going crazy already, and now the hurricanes are not going to help the rates.”

When we discussed young entrepreneurs in our region, Rob said that the situation is tougher now than when he started in business. “Some younger people might say it’s easier because they have a lot more information at their disposal, but I think it’s tougher due to insurance costs and availability of materials. But this next generation also has other things like social media at their disposal – that wasn’t around when I was starting out. Social media can be powerful,” Rob said.

Still, he believes that we have a great variety of businesses in our region. “The younger entrepreneurs don’t seem to have fear, which is good. They aren’t afraid to try new things. I’m really inspired by some of the young business folks and what they’re doing, and I love to hear about new people trying new things and doing it on their own.” •

You can find out more about Associated Lightning Rod at alrci.com.