fire-protection
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Mike Francis Is Turning a Garage Experiment Into Infrastructure Armor
The NanoTech Materials CEO went from programming a calculator he meant to use for cheating to building ceramic coatings for roofs, bridges and industrial plants. His harder invention may be a company where every employee gets to think like an owner.
The Alarm Company That Grew by Making High-Tech Security Feel Old-Fashioned
John Loud left an airline cockpit for an alarm panel, then built a nearly 13,000-customer company around an unfashionable idea: answer the phone, know the customer and make the machinery work.
The 1972 Oakland Two-Man Shop That Became Silicon Valley's Fire Whisperer
A special-hazards fire company from 1972 spent 45 years learning how to protect the rooms where a single sprinkler head would be a disaster. Then private equity came knocking.
Ferguson
Ferguson built a $31 billion business around a stubbornly physical promise: when a contractor needs the right valve, fitting or air handler, the answer cannot arrive next week. Its real product is certainty - inventory, expertise and last-mile execution wrapped around more than a million parts.
Strategic Connections, LLC
Strategic Connections is a Raleigh, North Carolina technology infrastructure integrator that designs, installs, inspects and maintains the systems most people never notice but everyone depends on - structured cabling, audio visual, commercial security, fire alarm and fire protection. Founded in 1998 and built up through acquisitions and specialty divisions, the firm bundles enterprise-grade low-voltage work into a single turnkey partner for commercial, government, education and data center clients across the Carolinas and beyond. In August 2025 it joined forces with SuperHero Fire Protection, a Hidden Harbor Capital Partners portfolio company, to scale its recurring service and inspection business.