Cabco Research Ltd was founded in October 1980 by George Cousins, primarily to make custom computer cables for the nascent computer and telephone industries.
There was a fair bit of work available for a small Cabco from two of the local telcos at the time, Maritime Tel & Tel and NB Tel, and George was able to bring his two sons into the business. Diversification in services led to Cabco’s expansion into the rebuilding of repeater housings. Don Reid was originally hired for this work in 1985 as one of the first employees and is still with us today!
By the mid 1980’s the computer industry was growing quickly and both small and medium sized businesses were buying their own “mini-computer systems”. Larger computing companies like HP and IBM dominated the market with proprietary software, requiring significant investment in the same proprietary equipment. George understood the electronics required to allow terminals to speak to the central processing unit (CPU). Therefore, he developed a method to configure cables that would allow a terminal from one manufacturer to speak to the CPU of another manufacturer, providing enormous cost savings to Cabco clients.
There was very little expertise in the installation of these specialty cables and thus the Cabco installation team was formed. It was around this point, in 1988, that George decided to sell the company for personal reasons. Craig Meredith purchased the company from George, becoming Cabco’s primary owner and operator for the next 31 years. Craig’s first move was to start importing inexpensive offshore cables for resale. He also concentrated on expanding the installation group. For every raw cable purchase over 40 feet, Craig would personally call the customer, inquiring about their installation plans. Working with computer and networking companies, Cabco started to bundle the install service with their offerings. This worked well and the business grew.
In the early 1990’s, Cabco was the first (aside from the telcos) to offer fibre work capabilities. In 1992 a young Darren McCormick (now company VP/Partner), fresh from NSIT (now NSCC), joined Cabco to support a few large government contracts. Over time Darren became a key contributor to the satellite and cable installation business. Satellite installation also attracted Mike Gillespie to Cabco in 2005 and his career has evolved into more senior roles in Unified Communications over the years.
In 1995, Craig approached Charlie Keating, owner of Access Communications, to explore outsourcing opportunities with their cable TV installations. The timing was impeccable as Keating was frustrated with his existing supplier, asking if Cabco could start the following day. “How many trucks can you roll?” were his exact words. Thanks to this connection, the residential installation team was born. After proving to be a reliable partner, Cabco attracted more of their business, expanding into outside plant construction. Access was sold to Shaw Communications in 1999 and Shaw sold the Maritime cable businesses to what is now Eastlink in 2001. Cabco has been closely aligned with Eastlink since this time and proudly work as a subcontractor in multiples geographic and technical areas for them. Darren McCormick was selected to head up this part of the business way back when and still does today.
In the early 2000s the operating name was changed from Cabco Research Ltd to Cabco Communications Group to better reflect what the company did. While structured cabling was a mainstay of the business, Cabco needed to stay ahead of the technology curve and new product offerings were added. The company embraced the convergence of telephony and began selling digital phone systems. In addition, wireless and Wi-Fi installation and support was also adopted as a service offering. Lastly, security was identified as a growth opportunity as it was not being well served on the commercial side.
The past decade has been led by the excellence of our people. At Cabco, we are thrilled to promote from within and support career paths. One of the things we are most proud of is the number of colleagues with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 years of service at Cabco. This depth of experience is an invaluable resource.
In May 2019, Craig Meredith sold the business to new partners (Mike Mills, Jim Mills, Don Mills, Keith Skiffington) and existing partner Darren McCormick. Today the business employs roughly 50 team members across the Maritimes. Cabco continues to provide products and services to both national partners, and small and medium businesses in the Maritimes. Our breadth of products and expertise is second to none.
In hindsight it looks relatively easy, but the real success factors to reach 40 years in business were a commitment to great service driven by our people, and early adoption of technology amid rapid changes. On a daily basis we live and breathe our core values of safety, our people, our customers, our communities, growth and integrity.
As we celebrate 40 years in business, we look forward to seeing how the next few chapters unfold.