Leading Telecom Solutions Provider Moves East to Support Recently Executed Contracts and Fuel Continued Growth
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. (June 14, 2021) – LEAF Communications, a proventelecom leader serving Fortune 500 clients across the U.S. with a full portfolio of cutting-edge wireless solutions, today announced it is combining forces with CelTeq-HPC through a strategic acquisition that will support increased demand for LEAF’s services on the East Coast.
Already an entrenched player in West Coast markets, this move is the latest in a series of expansions that most recently included the announcement of LEAF’s new offices in Houston, Texas. This acquisition extends LEAF’s reach overnight and will support recently executed major contracts and immediate demand for a quality integrator on the East Coast.
“We believe that this is the first of many M&A moves by LEAF Communications on our road to becoming the largest and best wireless engineering and construction company in the nation,” said Dan Leaf, CEO and president of LEAF Communications. “We’ve established a strong reputation in the industry with key players along the West Coast and throughout the U.S., and this acquisition will continue to fuel our high-growth and continued positive reputation as we further saturate the East.”
LEAF Communications delivers fully integrated end-to-end telecom services including real estate and site acquisition services, engineering, construction management, construction, deployment and support. With specialization in small cell, DAS and ERRCS systems – demand for LEAF’s one-stop integrated service model has continued to skyrocket throughout the years. The merger gives a permanent home-base to LEAF’s road-teams that have been supporting East Coast projects, and provisions the resources required for continued rapid growth.
“LEAF’s reputation speaks for itself, bringing expertise and the highest level of quality and service to any market it enters,” said Robert Taylor, CEO of CelTeq-HPC, an established high-performance communications company with a focus on cellular connectivity, WiFi communications and first-responder systems. “We are thrilled to join forces for continued success and believe that our newly combined footprint and the ability to extend LEAF’s robust portfolio of services to our East Coast clients is a complete win-win.” As it looks to the future, LEAF aims to continue its tremendous momentum with continued growth into Georgia, Florida, the Houston Gulf Coast and the Carolinas.
In 2009, while working as a senior project manager for a Pennsylvania-based engineering firm, Brian Hortonremembers flying over Maine in a helicopter, in awe of the vast wilderness while seeing nothing but trees for miles.
For Horton, it was hard to believe that this rural state was a placed visited by terrorists in advance of the horrific attacks of 9/11. Contracted for a job by the U.S Department of Homeland Security, he was responsible for selecting sites to install 60 radio towers to improve communications—and prevent that crisis from ever happening again.
Brian Horton | Vice President of Construction Management | Leaf Communications
That experience quickly came in handy when he joined Leaf Communications, a full-service telecom company, in 2019. Promoted to vice president of construction management in January, Horton’s plies his experience in construction management with the unique design needs of the burgeoning 5G space.
To date, the company—headquartered in San Clemente, California—has provided construction management services including small cell, macrocell modifications and outdoor distributed antenna systems projects in 20 states so far.
“I fell in love with operations from the start,” Horton told Blueprint in February. “Now at Leaf, I have the opportunity to put all of my experiences under one umbrella. It was a good fit and now we’re in a position to get many great programs off the ground.”
Creating connections
With the cellular industry deemed essential during COVID-19, business has been steady for Leaf, including designing and building out networks for wireless carriers; supporting emergency response communication initiatives networks; and expanding signals in urban areas. The company has even laid down technology in active seismic areas to alert communities of earthquake activity.
Now, with wireless carriers racing to establish their own 5G networks, Leaf’s construction management services are in high demand—particularly throughout the South, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains and Pacific Coast.
Horton’s division handles more than 3,000 project requests annually, performing services such as cell tower site selection; real estate lease negotiation; construction management; and system testing, just to name a few. He’s typically involved in each project’s initial design work, unless a wireless carrier wants its own designer. Then he connects with the provider’s team to ensure things go smoothly.
He also oversees all aspects of construction management, working with general contractors to make sure the job’s done right. His goal is to manage all major carriers in every state and to provide services to each major market.
“Some carriers have internal people working for them, or others ask us to do it all,” says Horton. “Regardless of the project requirements, our work will be thorough.”
Tapping into talent
Given the sheer scope of Leaf’s projects, teamwork is critical.
“Nothing falls through the cracks,” Horton says. “Our capabilities set us apart from other providers—not just the amount of projects we tackle, but also the skills of our team. We can analyze how to save time, money and energy on our client’s behalf—often as much as 50 percent.”
Horton currently manages a team of 15, who together tout more than 100 years of industry experience. Whenever a new employee is hired, Horton works alongside them for a week, training them on everything from cell tower installation to testing protocols. After that, he connects with each team of employees weekly to make sure the team’s goals are being met.
In the hyper-competitive telecom field, where providers want systems designed and installed quickly, keeping pace with demand can be challenging. The end of 2020 was particularly intense, Horton says, requiring several meetings on Zoom, FaceTime and WebEx to strategize with clients.
Often the team has to adapt to service requests in each territory, Horton says, noting state regulations vary in the telecom industry and can change rapidly which influences projects.
“By keeping our team up to date on the latest state and federal laws I trust them to do the job well. They know how to be proactive rather than reactive to meet our goals,” he says.
Power of perspective
Horton gained an appreciation for those in the field on the frontlines of telecom construction because he’s been there himself, working in a variety of locations and circumstances.
After earning degrees in economics and industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University in 1994, Horton immediately went to work. He gained a decade’s worth of experience in project management and operations at companies including DRG Construction, Wycliffe Enterprises, Pernix Group, JLL and Centerline Solutions.
After 9/11, Horton rounded out his education with U.S. Department of Homeland Security Anti-terrorism Level 1 training as well as LEED G.A. certification through the U.S Green Building Council.
“That experience helps,” says Horton. “I’m fortunate to learn from intelligent people throughout the industry—from the carriers to the factories that make the cell towers. It’s allowed me to cultivate conversations to create the team we have now. Leaf’s construction management team succeeds because good people taught me what’s important.”
To this day, Horton can’t resist field visits, whether he’s checking on tower installations in northern Maine or helping establish better cellphone service in the mountains around Telluride, Colorado.
“I love staying connected to the on-site challenges,” says Horton. “It feels good connecting people—to help them feel safe and have technology at their fingertips to stay in contact wherever they are.”
Award-Winning Telecom Leader Opens Third Office Location to Accommodate Continued Growth in Demand
LEAF Communications, a proven telecom leader serving Fortune 500 clients across the U.S. with cutting-edge wireless solutions, is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Houston, Texas this May 2021. With an established clientele and strong projected growth in the south, LEAF Communications is choosing to invest in this market to improve logistics for both its employees and clients. Current LEAF Communications offices are located in San Clemente and Fairfield, Calif.
“The LEAF Communications team is thrilled to call ‘America’s City of the Future’ its newest home,” said Dan Leaf, CEO and president of LEAF Communications. “Throughout our search for a southern market office location, we knew we wanted to be in a city that embraces technology and innovation and sought out a space that reflects our growth, commitment to innovation and opportunity-centric culture. Houston is a perfect fit! It is highly ranked for diversity and population growth and is home to the fourth-largest number of Fortune 500 companies in the world.”- ADVERTISEMENT -https://s.yimg.com/rq/darla/4-6-0/html/r-sf-flx.html
LEAF Communications’ new Houston office space is currently being renovated and will include 5,300-square-feet of office and warehouse space. The new location is a part of the company’s expansion plan to grow its construction management reach in the south east and offers helpful proximity to oversee its east coast satellite regions, from Florida through the Carolinas.
Current LEAF Communications team members, Tate Adams, manager of construction management, and Mark Mascunana, manager of East Coast architecture and engineering (A&E), will be relocating to the new Houston office to manage the location and oversee local hiring. The company is hiring for 10-15 positions, including A&E drafters, field technicians and construction managers. Adams, Mascunana and the additional area new hires will complement LEAF Communications’ existing operations to support its regional partners more directly.
To learn more about LEAF Communications and its new office location and open positions, visit: https://leafcomm.com/.
About LEAF Communications, Inc.: Founded in 2013, LEAF Communications is an award-winning California-based telecom firm serving clients across the U.S. with cutting-edge wireless solutions under its five divisions within the company. With more than 3,800 completed projects for clients including Tesla, Yahoo!, T-Mobile and other Fortune 500 giants, LEAF specializes in small cell deployment, 5G integration, first-responder systems (ERRCS), site acquisition real-estate services, architecture and engineering, and complete project management and construction services. With boots on the ground in 20+ states, LEAF’s highly trained team of seasoned industry experts are familiar with unpredictable obstacles and are often able to fix problems before they arise. LEAF is certified by the National Veteran Business Development Council and has been recognized as one of Inc.’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies. It has also been honored with a slew of excellence in entrepreneurship accolades from reputable organizations such as Ernst & Young and the Small Business Administration.
For supply chains to keep up with increasing demand and the need for cost and resource savings, organizations are turning to 5G and private network solutions. 5G wireless technology will improve all aspects of the supply chain from manufacturing to inventory, fulfillment and delivery.
Manufacturing: Machine-to-machine communications are a staple in the manufacturing industry. Private 5G wireless technology will improve these machines’ flexibility and agility through its ability to carry more information at faster speeds. Devices will be able to stay completely in sync without any delay or lag. With the machine’s ability to increase precision, it will, in turn, increase productivity, reliability and safety.
Inventory: Traditional inventory management has always been time-consuming and labor-intensive, while fulfillment was at a halt. With real-time inventory trackers, fulfillment centers are better equipped to manage large quantities more accurately. By using software that can accurately count and relay information back to a centralized system, warehouses are able to get real-time data into exact inventory counts, product locations and run reporting tools.
Fulfillment: The entire world experienced a major shift in fulfillment technology when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and stay-at-home orders became routine. The increase in demand and limited capacity of fulfillment centers caused many suppliers to adopt warehouse robotics as a solution for the future. Warehouse robotics are actually not new to the industry but first started being developed and used in the early 1960’s in GM factories.
Delivery: Although we may be a few years away from seeing delivery automation used on a large scale, companies have been working to reduce delivery costs and improve logistics through remotely powered drone delivery, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. For a delivery driver or pilot to control and drive a drone from the fulfillment center, the community’s connection needs to be robust, fast and reliable.
Additional Benefits Private and Public 5G Networks will Bring to the Supply Chain
Reducing Power Resources: 5G speeds use less power than traditional 4G and LTE connections. A good analogy to describe how 5G uses less energy is when a person is on their phone loading a website, it may take up to a minute for the website to load. During that loading time their phone is working much harder and using more battery power. If that loading time were to be cut down to a second, it would reduce the additional strain on the phone’s battery, increasing the battery’s life before its next charge. Now take that analogy and apply it to multiple large-scale devices making these same types of connections all day. That speed translates to significant power-saving efforts.
Reliability: When looking at private enterprise networks versus Wi-Fi and what system is right for an organization’s unique manufacturing needs, it’s important to know the difference. Private wireless networks are proven to be more reliable through better signal penetration, fewer blind spots and ability to handle increased bandwidth. 5G networks also can handle more devices than traditional Wi-Fi or 4G networks, ensuring that communications never get jammed up or slow down. When it can be costly to second guess how much a network can handle or how quickly it can transmit data, there is no better solution than private enterprise networks.
Safety: By removing humans from specific functions on the factory floor, warehouses have significantly reduced the number of accidents. In addition to these machines performing some of the more difficult or dangerous tasks, operations are accompanied by sensors that can detect problems or interruptions and immediately shut down and alert the team on the floor when something malfunctions. This split-second reaction time is enough to stop accidents and potentially save lives. Manufacturing has historically been a dangerous job, and these solutions can significantly improve safety and working conditions.
What is Needed to Make These Networks Possible
In order for these IoT’s to flourish at their total capacity, a strong and secure private 5G network is essential. It is critical to work with communications experts who are experienced in developing private network solutions at scale. As technology continues to grow, so will the increase in data, devices and bandwidth needed to ensure seamless communication between devices. It is imperative that the networks being developed are done in a way that can be expanded upon in the future without interruption to the networks in place.
About Dan Leaf, CEO and president at Leaf Communications:
Dan Leaf is an Air Force veteran with over 22 years of experience in the communications industry. Over his career, Leaf has become an expert in wireless infrastructure, successfully building and managing companies that provide unparalleled service to their clients. Leaf has worked with Fortune 500 companies, fire marshals and all major carriers to provide small cell deployment, 5G integration, first-responder systems (ERRCS), site acquisition real-estate services, architecture and engineering, and complete project management and construction services. The broad range of functions that Leaf and his team provide are what give them a holistic approach and expert experience in wireless infrastructure and communication technology.
The top 250 fastest-growing private companies in California. The companies that made our ranking set a high bar. In a period when so many businesses lack clarity, these leaders are bound to be the first to get to tomorrow.
Award-winning Telecom Leader Hires Curtis Burkhart to Support Continued Strategic Growth into the Enterprise ERRCS and DAS Markets
LEAF Communications, a proven telecom leader serving Fortune 500 clients across the U.S. with cutting-edge wireless solutions, today announced the strategic new hire of Curtis Dean Burkhart as senior director of DAS Enterprise Sales.
DAS (distributed antenna systems) are critical to building safety and wireless connectivity as they amplify wireless signals in locations where radio frequencies cannot penetrate. DAS networks are typically implemented in locations such as shopping malls, school campuses, office buildings, hotels, high-rises or larger venues like sports stadiums and arenas to ensure safety and first responder communication, as well as ensure that mobile users can access a strong signal. LEAF’s 22 years of experience, strong carrier relationships and technical and jurisdiction expertise set it apart in this space, and in his new role Burkhart will be tasked with meeting growing demand.
“With the need for wireless services growing constantly, ensuring connectivity for buildings, venues, campuses and business parks is a must,” said Dan Leaf, CEO and president of LEAF Communications. “We are proud to welcome Curtis Burkhart to our team as we continue to support the needs of our growing client roster within our DAS division.”
SANTA ANA, Calif. – The U.S. Small Business Administration, Orange County / Inland Empire District Office has selected Dan Leaf, President and CEO of Leaf Communications, Inc. to be recognized as the 2019 Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Leaf Communications is headquartered in San Clemente, CA with offices also located in Northern California, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon, Georgia, Boston and Wyoming. The company is a qualified Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise through the State of California and a qualified service disabled veteran owned business through the National Veteran Business Development Council. Motivated to offer more to the market space than competitors, the business has enjoyed impressive growth, tripling in size, revenue and client base each year.
Leaf selected as finalist for the Sitetracker Heroes of Telecom Awards held at T-Mobile Arena November 20th up for Best Corporate Culture! Stay tuned for more updates!https://www.sitetracker.com/telecom-heroes/
Leaf Attending EY Strategic Growth Forum this week in Palm Springs, Ca
Full Lineup of Speakers to hear! Arianna Huffington
Founder and CEO, Thrive Global, and Founder, The Huffington Post, Nicole Kidman
Academy Award-winning actress, Shantanu Narayen President & CEO Adobe Inc. and Chuck Robbins Chairman & CEO Cisco just to name a few!https://www.ey.com/en_us/growth/strategic-growth-forum-us
