THE HISTORY OF THE CARDINAL GROUP

Cardinal Maintenance & Service Co. was founded and incorporated in July, 1962 by Andrew G. Pohl.  Mr. Pohl decided to quit his bread truck driving job and venture into the commercial cleaning business.  He started cleaning small offices, bars, and restaurants to make ends meet.  In 5 years, he managed to secure cleaning accounts such as Roadway Express, IBM and Babcock & Wilcox.  July 1, 1966, his son, Dan, joined Cardinal and by 1969 determined that additional services such as commercial refuse removal, property management and specialized interior demolition would be a good addition to better serve Cardinal’s clients. 

In 1978, Ray Brophy was an addition to Cardinal. Ray & Dan’s new ideas in general construction services such as construction cleaning, general labor rental and exterior demolition were added.  In the early 1980’s asbestos removal was added and Cardinal Environmental was born.  A sample of Cardinal’s Environmental client list includes Lockheed Martin, Akron Public Schools, Canton City Schools, Ruhlin Company and various locations in the tri-state area. Cardinal Environmental was a separate entity from Cardinal Maintenance headed by Ray and Dan and operated out of a separate location.  Cardinal Environmental Services also performs mold abatement, hazardous spill cleanup and underground remediation. 

During the late 1980’s, asbestos roofing became an issue; therefore, Cardinal Environmental started removing commercial roofs for major roofing contractors. This necessitated Cardinal’s entry into the commercial roofing industry. A sample of Cardinal’s Roofing client list includes Akron University, Acme Stores, Dillards, U.S. Postal Service, Akron Art Museum, and many schools and industries. 

Cardinal Maintenance suffered a great loss when Andy Pohl passed away in 1994.  At this point, Dan Pohl decided to connect the two companies. Cardinal Environmental and Cardinal Maintenance were located together and headed up by Dan Pohl and Ray Brophy. 

In the mid 1990’s, opportunity arose again in the safety supply industry.  The environmental industry is a major purchaser of safety equipment; therefore, when The Safeware Company announced its plans to leave the Ohio area, Cardinal purchased its inventory and Cardinal Safety Products was started.  Most importantly, along with the inventory purchase, Cardinal also obtained Greg Wilson and his 30 years of safety experience.  Cardinal Safety is currently a leader in safety consulting and equipment sales.  A sample of Cardinal’s Safety client list includes First Energy, Lockheed Martin, Aircraft Braking Systems, BWX Technologies, Park Farms and Parker Hannifin.  In 1997 it was obvious, because of growth, the Cardinal Group needed a new and bigger home.  After months of searching, Cardinal was introduced to Mayor Randy Hart and, within the next few years, a new building was built in Barberton, Ohio.  Continued expansion prompted another move. In 2009, The Cardinal Group took possession of its current headquarters in Akron.

Since 1962, The Cardinal Group’s success is attributed to personalized customer service and quality performance. You will find many familiar faces still operating The Cardinal Group today. Dan Pohl remains the CEO of the corporation, with Ray Brophy as the President. Ray works closely with the heads of the Environmental division, Terry Collins, Al Linger, and Dan Brynelsen. Dave Dubravitz is the director of the Roofing division. Greg Wilson continues to head up the Safety division, with his brother Doug Wilson as our sales representative. Andrea Pohl, granddaughter of Andy Pohl and daughter of Dan Pohl, shares the duties of running the Maintenance division. The people of Cardinal have made it what it is today.