President of Volney Multiplex discusses the multi-million-dollar company that started at the kitchen table
By Stefan Yablonski
Q: When did you begin working here?
A: Loren Knapp started Volney Multiplex in 1980. I worked with Loren in 1985 while I was still in high school and summers until I graduated from Cayuga Community College in 1989. I went to college at Cayuga and got my electronics associate degree. I was fresh out of college and didn’t have anything to do. Loren was looking for a partner and I bought in. That is when we started doing the security alarm stuff. Made my way up the ladder rather quickly. In 1990, I bought into Volney Multiplex with the willingness to work 24/7 and a $5,000 initial buy in for monitoring equipment. We started out in Loren’s kitchen until we built a new monitoring center office in 1996 where we still currently operate from. We did the monitoring ourselves; no one else basically wanted to work for free 24/7. In 2012 we built a warehouse with an addition added on in 2019.
Q: And when did you actually take over?
A: Loren retired in 2015 and I immediately partnered with a current employee, Matt Morse. We made it official in 2022 to present. We have continued to grow from a company with five or six employees to a multi-million-dollar company.
Q: What services do you offer?
A: We offer a number of services here. Since the beginning, we have continued to expand on all services that are offered to both commercial and residential customers. Major services offered include electrical contracting, fire security systems with 24-hour monitoring, tests and inspections, CCTV, access control as well as many other specialty services. It has evolved over the years. We have clients all over Central New York. There probably isn’t many businesses that we haven’t been in.
Q: What’s the best part of your job?
A: What do I like? It is probably the interaction with all the different types of businesses and all the people. I enjoy working with different people and helping them. There are a lot of different businesses and industries. I really like helping people.
Q: How big is your staff?
A: We have 23 people right now. We are kind of slow right now. We typically have between 25 to 30. We have around 20 vehicles. Finding help is always challenging, but I’d say it is not as bad as it was. Generally, if we advertise for a position we get a good response to it. We do everything in-house ourselves. We have a pretty good team. We never close, it is 24/7 monitoring. For the most part, we work from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. We have quite a few people that have been here for a number of years. Matt, my new business partner, he started here when he was in high school as well. Hopefully if I retire, he will take it over and go from there.
Q: Ever thought about what else you might be doing?
A: No. This is what I want to do. It’s been 40 years, so this is it. That’s a long time.
Q: So, slowing down, retirement isn’t in your plans?
A: I have always told people to live your retirement, don’t wait for it. I’ve built this place up to where it is. If I can get one more good job, I can retire. I am one good job away.
Q: What do you do in your free time?
A: I like to hunt and fish. It’s a pastime. I like being outside. I enjoy the seasons.
Q: Even the winters like we’ve had recently?
A: It is kind of like the winters I remember growing up. I like all four seasons — wish the summer season was a little bit longer (laughs). I’m ready for spring now.
Q: How has the business changed?
A: It was a bit different back then. There wasn’t 9-1-1. We had to call the local police department, the local fire department. People didn’t have cellphones. We started ourselves, working 24/7 and built the business up. We monitored from the office. We’d work all day and then transfer the signals to our house. We just expanded from there as the business grew.
Q: How is your home life?
A: I have a wife and two daughters and three grandkids — that keeps us very busy.
I met my wife, Candace, at college. We got married in 1991. We are blessed with two daughters, Meghan and Maureen. They settled locally and are both very successful in their chosen occupations. We were also blessed we three grandkids, Brooklyn, Leonardo and Connell aged between 4 to 7. My wife is currently a teacher at Granby Elementary in Fulton.
In addition to her teaching and my career, we have started a new business — “Oh Honey” — this year. We plan on expanding our small apiary plan to sell honey in the future.
Q: What does it take to work here?
A: Some people like the low-voltage stuff. Some like the electrical stuff. Others prefer different things. I think business is always challenging. We try to give the employees the best benefit that you can give them and keep things affordable for our customer base. We continue to grow every year. We have a good staff. Some people have been here for a long time. You have to have a positive attitude and a desire to learn this stuff. The more skills that come along with that is a benefit. And you need good people skills — when we send people out, they are directly representing us.
