Jack Borkey Sr. established Professional Electric Products Company (PEPCO) in 1968 and has achieved great success with his family owned and operated company ever since. Jack is a scheduled panelist for a discussion on “The Transition Process – Planning for the future” during the 2012 Family Business Conference, sponsored by Zinner & Co.
Just 14 years after beginning his career as a wireman apprentice, Jack Borkey Sr. owned and operated his own electrical distribution business.
That personal drive and work ethic has made PEPCO a market leader in Electrical Distribution for over forty years. PEPCO is among the largest wholesale distributors of electrical, utility/high voltage, communication, automation and industrial electrical products in the entire nation.
After an apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Union No. 38, Borkey quickly moved up the ranks of Leff Electric to sales manager before venturing out to start his own business with his wife, Jan.
With a business model centered on cooperative problem-solving, Borkey and his team listen carefully to the needs of customers in order to create and customize the best solution for any size job.
PEPCO is a service – and family – oriented business; through the 1970s and ‘80s, Borkey introduced and integrated his sons into the business, from warehouse and operations through sales and managerial positions. By the 1990s, three of the Borkeys’ four children were a vital part of the company with 20 years of experience under their respective belts, managing business development and mergers and acquisitions.
Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, the Borkey management team acquired or opened three additional branches to its Eastlake headquarters in Toledo, Green (servicing Akron, Canton, Youngstown & Warren) and Columbus. PEPCO currently has over 90 employees representing over 200 manufacturers in the industry, utilizing over 100,000-square-feet of total warehouse space and 13 delivery trucks.
In the process of significant growth over the company’s 44-year history, Borkey has been a pillar in the Northeast Ohio community – not only as a businessman, but also as a philanthropist. His model for transfer of a multigenerational business from management to ownership has been highly touted as a best practice, as Jack Borkey Sr. will discuss on a featured panel during the 2012 Smart Business Family Business Conference, sponsored by Zinner & Co, on Thursday, September 6.
To learn more about Jack Borkey Sr. and PEPCO, visit the company’s website. For more information on this interactive workshop, or to register for the event, please visit Zinner & Co.’s Family Business Conference page.
