Automated Door Ways

Founding Story

“Automated Door Ways was founded in 2005. From the very beginning I wanted to operate a different type of door company. There were three main forces behind how we would go to market.

The first thing was to make sure that the employees were put first. The people that work for ADW are what makes it such a special company. I worked many years in corporate America and have seen mass layoffs and benefits cut. I wanted ADW to be different.

Secondly, we had to be totally customer focused. My first employees and I knew that we could be the best door company in our market. We were fast and nimble to react to the customer and market conditions. We are driven by customer satisfaction. If the customer is not satisfied, then neither are we.

Lastly, we wanted to provide more options to our customers than the traditional automatic door company. Too many times businesses say "no, we don't do that type of door." We wanted to say "yes." We expanded our services to repair all types of doors – not just automatic doors. The philosophy is: if we are at a customer's location, don't limit ourselves to only automatic doors. Be there for all the customer's doorways!”

Why Cobalt?

“When I decided to put out feelers about the possibility of putting Automated Door Ways up for sale we had many suitors. I knew I didn’t want to sell to someone who was preparing to destroy my business to turn a quick profit. Over the years, I had witnessed the hard work of many owners be destroyed very quickly, and I wasn’t going to stand for that with ADW. I also wanted the business to continue existing with the core tenets it had for the last 19 years; we had to remain customer driven and I needed to be sure that the employees would be taken care of.

Cobalt was the only company that met my expectations. They are committed to enhancing the culture that has existed since 2005. They had purchased a neighboring automatic door company with tons of collaboration opportunity. All of the people at Cobalt that I met were impressive and what resonated with me the most is when they informed me numerous times that they wanted to grow – rather than cut – the business! I am looking forward to seeing just how big and powerful Automated Door Ways will be under Cobalt’s ownership.”

— Ed Gaffney, Founder and Owner (2005–2024)