80-year-old firm started by Georgia Tech grads is national fire safety giant

What began as a small Atlanta business founded by two Georgia Tech graduates has grown into one of the nation’s largest fire protection and life safety companies.

This year, Alpharetta-based Pye-Barker Fire & Safety is celebrating its 80th anniversary, marking decades of growth that transformed the company from a local operation into a nationwide business with more than 250 locations across 47 states and a workforce that is expected to reach nearly 10,000 employees by the end of the year.

Despite that expansion, company leaders say Atlanta remains central to Pye-Barker’s identity.

“We rely on where we’ve been,” said CEO Bart Proctor. “The business was started in Atlanta, and it seems like to stay true to your roots, you should be in Atlanta.”

Founded in 1946 by John Pye and Ben Barker, Pye-Barker spent much of its history focused on the Atlanta market. The company originally operated as an industrial gas and welding supply business before gradually shifting its focus to fire protection services, a transition Proctor credits largely to former owner Roger Lumsden, whose family had deep ties to the company.

Today, Pye-Barker provides a broad range of fire and life safety services, including fire extinguishers and suppression systems, sprinkler services, fire alarm systems and security solutions. While roughly 20% of its business comes from installing equipment, the company’s primary focus is service, inspecting, testing and maintaining fire safety systems in commercial buildings.

Because fire protection requirements are mandated by law and often influenced by insurers and local governments, the company serves a wide range of clients, from hospitals and universities to office buildings and manufacturing facilities.

Pye-Barker Fire & Safety has offered fire safety services such as alarm and extinguisher installations for over 80 years. (Courtesy of Pye-Barker Fire & Safety)

“If you have a commercial building, you probably have a need for our services,” Proctor said.

The scale of the business has changed dramatically since Proctor joined the company in 1996.

“When I came on, we had three locations in Atlanta,” he said. “I think we’ll finish the year close to 300 (across the country).”

Much of that growth has occurred over the past decade. While Pye-Barker began expanding outside Georgia in the late 1990s, the company accelerated its growth strategy around 2016 through acquisitions and geographic expansion.

The company is now backed by several major investors, including private equity firms Leonard Green & Partners and Altas Partners, along with sovereign wealth funds Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and GIC of Singapore.

Yet, Proctor says the company’s success is rooted less in financial backing than in maintaining a culture that prioritizes employees.

“It’s always been about the folks that work here,” he said. “I’m a firm believer that if your folks aren’t happy, you’re never going to make a customer happy.”

That philosophy has become increasingly important as the company has expanded. Pye-Barker now encompasses dozens of acquired businesses, many of which Proctor said joined the organization after owners decided the company’s culture aligned with their own.

“The name changed, but the values did not,” Proctor said. “We’ve only brought on companies that we thought were aligned culturally with what we believe in.”

Last year, the company took a step aimed at reinforcing that employee-centered approach by making all full-time employees stockholders through an employee ownership initiative.

To celebrate the program, Pye-Barker placed the names of every employee on a NASCAR race car sponsored through its partnership with Legacy Motor Club and driver John Hunter Nemechek. The company plans to continue using special car designs to commemorate milestones, including its 80th anniversary.

Pye-Barker Fire & Safety celebrated 80 years in business with a NASCAR wrap featuring the names of their 9000 employees. (Courtesy of Pye-Barker Fire & Safety)

While NASCAR sponsorships and nationwide expansion have increased the company’s visibility, Proctor says maintaining the culture that defined Pye-Barker as a small business remains his primary goal.

“We’re certainly not what you would call a mom-and-pop business anymore,” he said. “But culturally, the way we approach things and the way we treat each other, I’d say we’re still very much a family business, just a really, really big family.”

As Atlanta has grown into a major business hub, Pye-Barker has grown alongside it. The city’s transportation infrastructure, access to talent and status as a regional economic center have helped support the company’s expansion, according to Proctor.

The company has no plans to move its headquarters elsewhere, he said.