I wish that I could take all of the credit for PCS, unfortunately, I can’t. Originally, our business name was Synergy Technologies, founded by my oldest brother, Walter Bergeron, in 1996 in our backyard. Let me give you a brief synopsis of how PCS came to fruition. He had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy as a Nuclear Engineer and once he returned home he recognized the need for Industrial Electronic Repair in our area. He gained invaluable experience from the military. He witnessed first-hand how equipment manufactured for the Navy contained cheap parts (surely this increased the profit margin) and he and his comrades were responsible for having to fix their inadequacies. To date, the consumer continually faces the heartaches from this accepted protocol.
Our company name was changed to Power Control Services. This is where my journey began with the company. I worked part-time as a technician while attending the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now UL-Lafayette) for Mechanical Engineering. I remember attending the Lobos Trade Show, my 1st trade show, like it was just yesterday. I arrived the day before setup day to ensure that I was fully prepared, but soon realized that’s not always the case. Our booth was bleak compared to others, inadequate marketing material and no procedure for follow up on leads. Regardless, it was a true learning experience for PCS and despite our faults we still managed to gain a few new clients. This began our journey to becoming a nationally recognized name and leader in the Industrial Electronic Repair Industry.
PCS has always strived to maintain 5 day turnaround on repairs. In fact, our initial location had shelves labeled with the days of the week to ensure that repairs were completed in a timely fashion. In early 2000, we were the 1st repair facility to offer a “Limited Lifetime Warranty”. Most of our competitors offered a 6 – 12 month warranty, but ours was special because it began when the repair was installed, not shipped. Since, other companies have tried to offer comparable warranties (I personally don’t think they will outshine ours).
We have had our share of relocations and remodels. In the beginning PCS was located in a 16 X 16 metal building amidst sugarcane fields in Milton, LA. Our first remodel took place after a hurricane ripped the roof off of the test lab. The roof was replaced and our facility was expanded to a 2,000 square foot building, which was much bigger than the original 2 rooms that we had. The remodel made way for several offices, a larger test lab, shipping and receiving area and a larger routing area for client repairs. This huge space was great to work in (considering the original), however, in 2007 PCS moved to Lafayette, LA into a much larger building. This 6,500 square feet facility allowed for more offices, a larger shipping and receiving area as well as an additional test lab. We serviced hundreds of clients and the location aided our growth so it didn’t take long for PCS to begin busting at the seams again. In 2011, we moved to our current location encompassing 17,000 square feet and currently service customers from almost every state within the U.S.
In 2012, Walter offered me the opportunity to run all aspects of the business. I had worked my way up the ranks from Technician to Technical Supervisor to Operations Manager to Vice President of Operations and now CEO. We continue with the original vision of PCS being the industry experts and are forging the future in the Industrial Electronics Industry by setting the standard for others to follow.
Waylon Bergeron
PCS, CEO
