All of us at ControlFreek are proud to announce our tenth year as a leading solution provider of electrical control and automation systems. In the last decade, CFI has achieved steady growth with a little innovation and genuine commitment towards our partners and clients. Our recognition throughout the Inland Northwest and SW Canada over the last ten years is something we take very much pride in.
The first inklings of CFI started in late 2006. Adam Snyder had worked a five-year stint as shop foreman at Pantrol until 2005, and had been working at Casne for little over a year. He had a very comfortable engineering and programming job at Casne and life was good.
During this period of time, Adam moonlighted most nights building panels for a handful of companies and assisting with their startups. The jobs came in large part to Adam’s absence from Pantrol and them not being able to handle it. The demand for panels was there and on the rise — the jobs started to come Adam’s way. It didn’t take long for him to realize he could turn these types of services into a full time gig.
I talked with my dad, and he loaned me the money to rent a shop and buy some tools … my soon to be wife, Mandie, handled the business side of things and we took a leap of faith. – Adam Snyder
Almost a year later on August 1st, 2007, Adam left his job at Casne and ControlFreek Inc opened its doors. It didn’t take long for things to get hectic, which prompted Adam to hire their first employee. He hired Preston, who he had experience with at Pantrol. This was a leap of faith for Preston and his family as well.
In the beginning I was bidding, ordering, designing, building, testing, starting up, programming and final documentation … I finally realized I was spreading myself too thin, so I brought in Preston.
After many, many hours of grinding away, the business grew and became more sustainable. It wasn’t long before we moved to a larger building, took on a few more employees, and increased our base of partners and clients.
The quality of the work and level of support that we provide is something that we take great pride in. In a time when customer service has declined, we strive to provide our customers with a superior experience.
Adam’s attention to detail, working knowledge of the instruments and systems, and commitment to his customers has made ControlFreek a name that everyone trusts and respects. – Mandie Snyder
Much of our success comes from a super team of individuals that took more than a few years to assemble. Each with a good work ethic and taking on the tough jobs that no one else wanted.
Our lean and mean style of business, investing in the best tools and technology we can afford and pushing our own limits into a variety of industries has given us a solid foundation to grow from. – Adam
What does the next ten years hold? The goal is to become the premiere panel shop in our region with more growth in the technical services area. Its an exciting time and we are pretty proud of what has been accomplished so far.
This year we had the opportunity to bring some additional services in-house with the addition of a programmer. Our goal continues to be controlled growth, so the quality of our product and services do not suffer. As we move into the next 10 years, we will continue to reflect the quality and commitment to our customers that has gotten ControlFreek to where it is today.
It is always interesting to come across a small concrete building in a remote location and have Adam say, “ControlFreek built the panel in there.” It is more common than not. – Mandie
The past 10 years have gone quickly. The support of our family, friends, vendors and customers over these past ten years have all attributed to our success today. It is humbling to have employees place their livelihood in our hands. We have had the pleasure of working with some amazing people over the years.