Written by Miranda Bergin, Branch Manager Westminster, CPS Distributors 

CPS Distributors is proud to celebrate 135 years of leadership, progress, and dedication to the industry and our customers.

Lowell Kaufhold, the former President and CEO of CPS Distributors, attributes the company’s long-lived success to the self-built culture that strongly emphasizes employee development. “The people are what built the culture; it was not one person who built it; it was everyone. Our job is to help our employees improve through training and support.”

What is CPS culture all about? Lowell, without hesitation, answers, “About belief…you have to believe!” He elaborates, “I can’t have a meeting and ask everyone to believe in me; you must believe in them first. My employees know I believe in them.”

What continues to drive this culture? The ideology Lowell fostered continues to propel the culture to this day. It’s “all about pushing to be better all the time” – but how do you get employee buy-in? The answer, Lowell says, is, “Talk to everyone! Tell them you care about them, and you’re there to support them! Everyone matters in the company.” It is easy to see why CPS has so many tenured, long-term employees who have spent 25, 35, and, in some cases, even 45 years with the company. In today’s age, this is nearly unheard of; employees don’t plan on a life-long career at a company anymore. This is how CPS has set themselves apart from the rest. Employees don’t stay at companies where they aren’t appreciated, and the number of long-term employees at CPS speaks for itself.

Lowell described a pivotal moment in the company when training became the focus of employee development. Getting employees involved was the key: “To learn it, you have to teach it … training and teaching your peers builds personal investment.” This sets the tone for the evolution of CPS Distributors’ identity. They are now widely recognized as one of the leading wholesale distributors, with industry knowledge, experience, and expertise at the forefront.

The legacy of CPS goes back to 1890 when the company began as “E. Perry & Son,” back then, it helped supply the community with all their water well pump needs. In 1938, the name was changed to Water Engineering Co.

Have you ever wondered what CPS stood for? Colorado Pump & Supply! In 1947, this became the company’s new name. In 1973, it was updated to our current name, CPS Distributors. Throughout the years, the name has changed, but the passion within the company has always stayed the same: founded by hard-working people to serve hard-working people.