Stuart Telecom Upstart Finds A Niche
By KATE GRUSICH
kate.grusich@scripps.com
The Stuart News March 11, 2006
Peter Engle first put his entrepreneurial aptitude to the test at the early age
of six, selling seeds door-to-door for American Seed Co.
Over the years, he honed those skills — managing large telecommunications firms
in places ranging from Atlanta to Toronto and Mexico to Columbia.
Now, as president and chief executive of Stuart-based Joy Communications, Engle
is overseeing a small but rapidly growing empire.
And as AT&T prepares to honor a $65 billion agreement to buy BellSouth Corp.,
some analysts say smaller firms such as Joy could find a way to profit from the
mega-merger.
"I always wanted to own my own business, so when I heard about Joy Communications
being up for sale, I purchased it," said the 43-year-old, who spent several years
overseas as a member of Army intelligence. "And we've been at it ever since, just
growing our customer base and expanding our private portfolio."
Since Engle took over the reins in 2000, the 24-year-old business telephone system
and data service provider has quadrupled in both in revenue and staff size. Much
of that has been accomplished through a string of acquisitions, the most recent
of which came last week when Joy purchased AFTEL Florida in Pompano Beach.
Last year, the firm bought South Florida Teleservices in Miami and West Palm Beach-based
Antec Inc. And Joy took over Telegrowth Inc. in Tampa in October 2003.
The purchases have expanded the customer base to about 10,000 across the Treasure
Coast, South Florida and Tampa areas. It also provides Joy with a staff of trained
technicians in each of the communities.
Annual revenues are now from $5 million to $10 million, and the number of employees
has more than doubled to 40 in the past six years.
"I have a great group of people that have really grown the business," said Engle,
whose customers include First National Bank & Trust Co. of the Treasure Coast, MacDill
Federal Credit Union, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Visiting Nurse Association of
Florida.
Over the years, Joy Communications has broadened product offerings beyond business
telephone systems and cabling. The company now provides and installs data networking,
voice-data integration and surveillance systems. As an authorized BellSouth partner,
Joy hooks up firms with local, long distance and Internet service.
And with telecommunication giants AT&T and BellSouth preparing to merge, niche
firms such as Joy could potentially see dollar signs — with many speculating the
acquisition will ignite a pricing war between telephone companies and cable operators.
Industry experts also say the smaller mom-and-pop firms could also find success
in a market where two major companies — AT&T and Verizon — are expected to split
80 percent to 90 percent of the customer base.
"Over the next decade, the industry will have fewer competitors, but they will each
have all the services — telephone, Internet, cable and wireless," said Jeff Kagan,
an independent Atlanta-based industry analyst. "Companies like Joy will continue
to do what they've been doing as the marketplace around them is changing.
"But in their little world, I think they will be able to stay as competitive and
successful as they were. They will be very successful within that 20 percent and
there will be plenty of room for them to compete."
Engle plans to remain in Stuart for the long haul. Joy will soon relocate its headquarters
from a small, 2,200-square-foot space on Kanner Highway to a 7,500- square-foot
building now under construction on Willoughby Boulevard. The move will likely take
place in May.
And Engle said he plans to continue expanding Joy's service area — most likely to
Tallahassee, Jacksonville and the Fort Myers-Naples market in the near future. "Our
goal is to be a dominant regional player," he said.