An End Of Year Message From Mark Boelhouwer To Our Colleagues
Dear Vantage colleague,
As we approach the end of 2018, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate the impressive “movements” we have made this year – and the people who made it possible. It’s been a year of growth and of change, where we have welcomed a wealth of new colleagues, established three new offices, launched new products, and seen the birth of a new brand identity that unites us all under the Vantage flag.
Highlights of the year
– We started off 2018 by welcoming St Louis-based freight door specialists Courion and their New York sister business Freight Tech to the family of companies. The next acquisition was in March, when we were joined by Californian manufacturer Bore-Max, bringing expertise in components for hydraulic elevators. And most recently, in June, we finalized the acquisition of control system experts Elevator Controls in Sacramento. Together, as part of this growing group of companies, we have an unbeatable level of combined expertise and experience.
– While we have been growing by adding businesses to the group, we have also been expanding our service center footprint. We opened one location in Miami in May, one in Chicago in July, and one in California in September. We now have a total of eight service centers and dedicated sales and support teams across North America, allowing us to serve all of our customers in a more dedicated way than ever before.
– In September, we successfully launched Vantage as the new group brand. We made a large impact at the NAEC show in Atlantic City – in no small part thanks to a notable launch party and a booth.
– 2018 has also been a year of ongoing focus on safety. We introduced several new initiatives towards creating an accident-free workplace. Safety is as important as anything else we do. We need to continue to strive to be 100% accident free and accordingly will keep investing in accident prevention, training, and safety equipment in 2019 and beyond.
As we enter the new year, we hold an extremely enviable position in the elevator industry. The Vantage story is only just beginning, and the next chapter will be written by all of us who work together to build on the legacy of our products and services. Our next challenge is to serve our customers seamlessly throughout the group. As you all know, we are always working hard to improve our processes and infrastructure.
On a final note I’d like to take the opportunity to express my thanks to you, for the part you play in the Vantage success story. I am fortunate to be surrounded by talented and dedicated people across every department.
I wish you a warm, bright holiday season and I look forward to working alongside you in 2019!
Mark Boelhouwer
CEO and President