Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/66838
68 • JUNE 2012 • WORLD FENCE NEWS East Coast Gate Operators Inc. hosts its fourth annual customer appreciation/table top seminar Hands-on training, innovative products and Southern pork barbeque welcomed access professionals to the fourth annual East Coast Gate Opera- tors Inc. (ECGOI) table top/customer appreciation seminar held March 22 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufacturer representatives from All-O-Matic, BFT U.S. Inc., DoorKing, FAAC, HySecurity, Linear and Select Engineered Systems dis- played operators and provided valu- able installation tips and techniques. ECGOI demonstrated their new cellular telephone entry technology, which was a big hit among the atten- dees, the company said. "Our event gets bigger and better every year. It's the perfect opportunity for us to introduce our loyal customers to the finest products and professionals in the access and automation industry," said Shawn Lalli of ECGOI. "We have some of the best customers, and this event is an opportunity for us to show our appreciation." All guests were treated to door prizes and giveaway items courtesy of the manufacturers on hand, in addition to Viking Access Systems and BD Loops. East Coast Gate Operators Incor- porated, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a distributor of gate oper- ators, access controls and telephone entry systems. ECGOI has more than 30 years of experience in the gate and access in- dustry. For more information, contact Shawn Lalli or Billy Meredith at 704- 768-2230 or visit the company web site at eastcoastgateoperatorsinc.com. Roger Mayberry of Mayberry Fencing, left, with Fred Ross of Linear. Major access industry vendors were on hand at ECGOI's fourth annual table top/customer appreciation seminar. From left to right are: Billy Meredith, ECGOI; Eric Bobadilla, FAAC; Luis Gutierrez, All-O-Matic; Randy Johnston, DoorKing; Fred Ross, Linear; Gary Goldstein, BFT U.S. Inc.; Gio Carrillo, BFT U.S. Inc.; Bob Sens- ing, Select Engineered Systems; Ken Rice, HySecurity and Shawn Lalli, ECGOI. Brian Sanford of Town and Country Fence, left, talks gate operators with Luis Guiterrez of All-O-Matic. Bob Sensing of Select Engineered Sys- tems, left, visits with a guest from Hick- ory Door and Gate. Shawn Lalli of ECGOI talks about wire- less entry, in particular ECGOI's new cellular telephone entry technology. The voice of experience continued from page 36 Gary Goldstein, left, president of BFT U.S. Inc. and Gio Carrillo of BFT U.S. Inc., right, visit with a guest from Hick- ory Door and Gate. Billy Meredith of ECGOI, left, and Tim Connor of J&G Fence. Randy Johnston, left, of Doorking, demonstrates DKS equipment for Jeff Sheffield. Brian Moran, left, receives a door prize from Randy Johnston of DoorKing. and go ahead on a $1.4 million job. The job required no bonding of any kind, no payment bond or performance bond. I never heard of such a thing. We are a large company with excellent credit and have many millions of dol- lars available in bonding, if we need it. It is not easy to qualify for that and when a job of that size comes down the pike and does not require a bond, I scratch my head and wonder why. I also realize that opens that bid up to many more competitors that otherwise may not have been able to obtain the necessary bonding. Residential jobs allow us much better cash flow and, in many cases, more profit. I don't know if that is a re- gional thing because of the year-long working environment of being located in Florida, but I can't think of any other reason why commercial jobs are so competitive. FAAC representative Eric Bobadilla, left, explains the features of FAAC equipment with attendee Greg John- son. Ken Rice of HySecurity, left, awards a door prize to a representative of Hick- ory Door and Gate. Also, we are not big fans of the 10% retention held for months on end involved in commercial work. Don't get me wrong, I can afford to wait, I just don't like to. TL: What attracted you to the Van Orcatt, left, took home a gate oper- ator from Viking Access Systems. It is presented to him by Shawn Lalli of ECGOI. fence business in the first place and what do you most like about the busi- ness? BG: That's easy. The fence busi- ness has been the rock of my life. I have spun my company and my per- sonal interests off in many other direc- tions – real estate, my antique car and motorcycle collections, many other things. Fencing has allowed me to do that. Slow and steady is the name of the game for me. I have always concen- trated on my core competency of fenc- ing, but my successes there have allowed me to expand my horizons to many other things in life that I truly love. I will always be grateful to the fencing industry for giving me my start and will stay with fencing and hopefully pass the business on to my sons and grandsons, who already work with me now and who I rely upon heavily. TL: That leads me to my next question. What advice would you have for anyone getting into the business? BG: I believe anyone can get into the fencing business. As I mentioned earlier, the barriers for entry are quite low. That is a double edged sword, continued on page 74 PHOTOS AND STORY BY PAULA LALLI