Through his passionate care for our employees, his careful attention to numbers and details, and his ability to rise to any occasion, Joseph Hightower has proven to be a leader our company can count on as we continue to grow. We are honored to share that he has been elevated to the role of Chief Operations Officer of Pye-Barker Fire, a role we know he will fill with integrity and dedication.
An Acquisition Success Story
Hightower has been successful in guiding our newly acquired operations into the Pye-Barker team largely impart because he himself joined our company through an acquisition as well. Hightower was the General Manager of A&A Fire & Safety serving the Myrtle Beach, SC market when the business was acquired by Pye-Barker in September of 2008.
After the acquisition, Hightower became the branch manager of the new Pye-Barker location. He transitioned to manage Charleston and Myrtle Beach’s branches and was also put in charge over the company’s cleaning division, which had locations in Myrtle Beach and Greenville, SC and Raleigh, NC.
Growing in Skill and Demand with the Business
With each new level of responsibility entrusted to him, Hightower continued to prove himself and lead his teams to achieve great things. He quickly learned the financial side of business management, something he did not need to know on the same scale while managing A&A Fire’s small family company. He was elevated to Regional Manager over a group of branches between the Carolinas and Georgia, and as the company grew, the amount of offices under his supervision grew as well. Finally, he was promoted to Director of Operations in early 2017 when Pye-Barker’s size demanded an overarching leader to direct the managers and new offices. During his role as Director of Operations, Hightower has guided branch operations flawlessly while delivering consistent financial performance to plan.
It’s More Than Work, It’s Family
Hightower shared that his favorite part of his job is the time he spends with our team members in their branches, learning more about their day-to-day affairs and how they handle their region’s unique challenges and needs. Looking into the future, he looks forward to watching the company continue to grow and being able to meet more family businesses as Pye-Barker expands.
“The idea of meeting the new family members at the acquisitions and learning how they run their business excites me,” Hightower shared. “I appreciate the opportunity to see what we can learn from them and spread throughout the Company, and also help them with what they may be having trouble with by using resources from our other locations to help them improve.”
Hightower shared that he is grateful to Bart Proctor, Pye-Barker’s current CEO, and Roger Lumsden, Pye-Barker’s former co-owner who has since retired, for giving him the opportunity to grow within the company. Proctor echoed Hightower’s sentiment:
“I knew from day one Joseph would grow in our organization and take a critical role in implementing the company’s destiny to be the largest and most successful Fire Protection business in the country,” Proctor stated. “He brings total dedication and passion to everything he does, and we are grateful for his leadership.”
Hightower is also grateful to Pye-Barker’s employees for “being the best team to work with in our industry.” We look forward to another strong year ahead and thank Joseph for being committed to keep leading our team through further expansion in the years to come.