No Recession at CSI

For most Americans, the current economic climate is the worst it has ever been in their lifetimes. Continued high unemployment and a poor economic climate for growth have dominated our nation’s consciousness for nearly three years now. However, neither trend is evident at Communication Systems, Inc (CSI). Located at 4670 Schantz Road, CSI’s staff of professional technicians, sales and support staff have grown by 20% since the start of the Great Recession. Business is up (CSI is poised to have its biggest year ever, revenue-wise, in 2010) and the company is searching for more employees. This is not an isolated spurt, as since 2005, CSI has doubled in size. Why?

“CSI continues investing both our people and process,” said Charlie Thiel, the firm’s General Manager. “We realize the need to continue maturing as both the market and the technologies change. We believe that investing during this economic downturn will benefit our customers and team members. Our clients are far too important for us to cut investments and growth. In spite of economic conditions, we are blessed to find ourselves in an industry and market that continues to grow.”

CSI was founded in 1975 by current owner and President Jim Landis. What began as two technicians installing audio and visual equipment in churches and business has grown into today’s CSI, with 55 full-time employees and three divisions. For more on CSI’s divisions and history visit click here.

CSI has includes many long-time employees on its active roster and proudly points to a collective knowledge base of nearly 500 years of project experience. Since October of 2009, CSI has added seven seasoned professionals, each of whom brings a wealth of talent and know-how to better serve their ever-growing clientele base, ensuring that the high standard of quality CSI brings to each project today continues as the company expands. Recent hires include:

• Don Marron, Account Executive: With 30 years of sales experience and a Certified Technology Specialist (CTS), Don develops relationships with clients and prospective clients in CSI’s Security markets. Don has already lead several high-profile CSI projects, including a surveillance system collaboration between Lehigh University Campus Security and the City of Bethlehem Police Department.


• Scott Harlacher, Lead Estimator: CSI’s newest employee (as of August 2010), Scott will provide accurate estimation of parts and labor costs necessary to complete the project on time and on budget. Scott completed a five year electrical apprenticeship through the IBEW that included 2,500 hrs of classroom training and 8,000 hours of on the job training.


• Jeremy Binder, IT Support: In this case, it’s more like “welcome back,” as Jeremy rejoins CSI to develop an internal help desk and managed services. This is the first step to CSI being able to fully roll out, market and sell IT service to clients. Jeremy brings over a decade’s worth of experience to this new venture.

“In today’s market, anyone can go online, buy some hardware, have it overnighted and at their doorstep early the next morning,” said Thiel. “They can also download software within minutes. We know we must provide more than just ‘stuff’. It’s our people that make the difference. Our company’s success is because of our people. We’re very proud of everyone on our team.”

CSI isn’t finished expanding. “We are ‘people-centric,’” Thiel stated. “We are always looking for good people.” For a list of current openings click here.