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FOUNDERS' HISTORY
The History of PMA's Founding Members
Pacific Labor Group
Michael Ciabattoni's father owned a furniture business for many years. When asked what he wanted to do when he grew up, Ciabattoni's response was some version of, "Not furniture." He wanted to make his own way.
So, he studied business at the University of Southern California and interviewed all over. But, as fate would have it, one day he stumbled out of an interview and into the CEO of a furniture dealership. Then and there, Ciabattoni decided that perhaps the furniture business was for him, after all.
He's still at it 22 years later.
Despite running offices in Santa Barbara and then Los Angeles and Orange County, and a few years later opening his current business Pacific Labor Group (PLG), it was that first year auditing a large furniture dealership that stayed with Ciabattoni and gave him the idea for PMA.
If the Alliance concept that Ciabattoni and his partners dreamed up sounds a bit foreign, that tracks. After all, Pacific Modular Alliance is a brand new model designed to maintain the integrity of local businesses, while giving them access to all the resources enjoyed by the biggest players.
The result is an installation process that is faster, easier, and more efficient than ever, no matter where you are or which member company you're working with.
Get to Know WIP
Transforming to meet customer need is something Scott McKay, founder of member company WIP, knows all too well. He began in 1981 working for a telecom company, and was laid off ten years later when the company dropped phone systems for cellular. He began WIP immediately thereafter to serve clients stranded in the transition, and has been doing it ever since. Over the last three decades, he's weathered transitions in networking, cabling, fiberoptics, audiovisual integration, and more. His is a story of continual reinvention to keep up with technology and to meet the needs of clients. It's only fitting that WIP would become a member of PMA, continuing the pattern of innovation to be better in every aspect of the business.
TWO ARE BETTER THAN ONE
Efrain Gastelum joined McKay as a managing partner at WIP to create the Audiovisual Integration division of the business, delivering the company from its 25+ years in structured cabling into a whole new market. He built out processes, procedures, sales and operations; he developed the building design and engineering teams, implemented standardized project management, and continues to provide training to industry professionals to lead the industry in every aspect.
Top-notch quality is paramount to Gastelum. As a member of the 2nd Battalion 7th Marines, he deployed to Korea and Guam, and was honorably discharged in 2001. Gastelum credits his military training for informing the way he does business.
"Honor, courage, and commitment are the core values of the Marines, and I still live by those: Honor our work to our clients, courage to do the right thing and in the best interest of our customers, commitment to delivering projects on time and on budget without hidden charges."
"Honor, courage, and commitment are the core values of the Marines, and I still live by those: Honor our work to our clients, courage to do the right thing and in the best interest of our customers, commitment to delivering projects on time and on budget without hidden charges."
Efrain Gastelum
Veteran Integration
Gastelum brings this intensity and commitment also to the member company he founded, Veteran Integration, which is certified as a Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) with the state of California. Gastelum's motivation for creating Veteran Integration was two-fold: To provide broader services to government agencies hiring for AV work, and to provide more opportunities for veterans. He's succeeded in both.
When it comes down to it, PMA exists to support individual member companies to do their best work, and to provide consistent, easy, and excellent service to clients. To do so, PMA breaks the mold and straddles the gap between the unparalleled customer service and niche expertise of local business, and broad capability and pricing of large companies.
Progressive Assembly Corporation
The result is local outfits like Northern California's member company Progressive Assembly Corporation (PAC) doing work for behemoths like Google without batting an eye. For PAC's Michael Peter, doing work for big, well-known companies is no different from any other project. Perhaps it was his time at MGM Studios brushing shoulders with big names, but Peter sees all clients as equally important, and prides his business on treating every client with excellence.
Peter also brings his experience running a mom-and-pop turnkey installation shop in LA to the PMA network. Combining Peter's precise approach to full-scale project management with PLG's Union & Prevailing Wage expertise and WIP and Veteran Integration's data & technology leadership, there's no job and no need that PMA can't tackle.
The beauty of PMA is that it supports local businesses in doing what they do well, while also providing them with essential business services usually only available to companies who enjoy economies of scale. Ultimately, the PMA member companies are able to provide service above and beyond competitors because they have the freedom to pay attention to every little detail, and the comfort of access to financial resources, and top-tier accounting, HR, IT, and more.
PMA also ensures standardized processes and procedures across member companies to give you peace of mind that you'll get the same uncompromising service on every job, and that the installers on your jobs will represent your dealership or manufacturing company with the highest level of professionalism.
It's uncompromising service and superior installation — anywhere, anytime, any size.
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