In 1982, after a successful career in the life safety systems industry, Chuck left his previous place of employment to establish Eastern Time Recorder Company. There, he helped develop the life safety systems, primarily specializing in fire and security technologies. The Edwards Company was selected as the primary fire alarm systems platform with several high technology companies filling out the safety product line. Within the first year, he was joined by Tom Conklin, a well-known technical specialist, as the service division developer.

After a few years in business and with a strong following, the decision was made in June of 1985 to incorporate the Eastern Time Recorder Company as Eastern Time, Inc. One of Chuck’s entrepreneurial visions was to expand the service offering to include closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance and nurse call systems to set the groundwork as a fully integrated systems company. A few simple rules were set as the foundation of the new company: honesty, integrity, quality and competitive pricing. In the years following, ETI became a trend setter and innovator in the life safety systems market. ETI began using fire alarm systems as the head end to perform non-traditional fully integrated systems functions and to combine fire, safety, access control, CCTV, master time control and process monitoring/control on a single platform. As ETI gained strength and competence in the market, the size, scope and complexity of the projects increased, and their reputation in systems integration grew.

With ETI enjoying much success in the life safety systems industry, it was time to look for a more appropriate building to house their corporate headquarters. It was decided that Allentown, PA, would remain home for the rapidly expanding company, whose roots were firmly seated in Allentown since the beginning. A suitable building was located and Portner & Hetke Architects was selected to undertake the transformation of the former K-Photo Building on Hanover Avenue into the new corporate headquarters of ETI. After a successful renovation project in August of 1993, 746-750 Hanover Avenue officially became the current home of Eastern Time, Inc.

Although ETI had been securing work in the greater Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg and Scranton/Wilkes Barre markets since its inception, it was determined that ETI needed a greater presence in the outlying areas. In June of 1995, ETI opened a fully staffed branch office in Dunmore, PA, serving the greater Scranton/Wilkes Barre area, and six years later, another fully staffed branch office in the Harrisburg area.

With a need for more sophisticated and powerful intercom and sound reinforcement systems, ETI looked for a well-aligned company for acquisition. In July of 1998, ETI acquired the sound, intercom, nurse call and video division of Lehigh Electric Products to expand ETI’s systems integration product offering. As part of the acquisition, Paul Zeller,  a well-known audio engineer, joined the ETI team as a sales engineer specializing in audio, video and nurse call systems. This acquisition helped propel ETI towards dominance in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area markets by early 2000, attaining full technology package capabilities to serve their customers.

Although ETI had been securing work in the greater Lehigh Valley, Harrisburg and Scranton/Wilkes Barre markets since its inception, it was determined that ETI needed a greater presence in the outlying areas. In June of 1995, ETI opened a fully staffed branch office in Dunmore, PA, serving the greater Scranton/Wilkes Barre area, and six years later, another fully staffed branch office in the Harrisburg area.

In 2006, while studying Economics at the University of Maryland, Bryan Rizzo developed ETI’s first website. Upon graduation, he joined ETI as a system sales engineer with a foundation in fire alarm systems and a focus in enterprise level CCTV and access control. Along with his sales activities, Bryan currently manages ETI’s construction department and is the driving force for process improvement. Within six months, he was joined by his brother, Marc Rizzo, a Drexel graduate in Business Management. Marc joined ETI as a system sales engineer, later broadening his base to focus on hospital nurse call system design. Marc leads the sales team, helping expand the knowledge base and application skills throughout the sales staff. In 2013, Marc graduated from DeSales University with his MBA, and he received his PMP certification in Project Management to further develop his business leadership skills. With both sons now contributing members of the ETI family, a business succession plan emerged to develop executive level skills in both Bryan and Marc for their future leadership roles at ETI.

ETI became more focused on serving customer needs with better technology offerings to monitor their critical life safety and related systems. In May of 2009, ETI added residential and small commercial accounts with the successful acquisition of Central Security, Inc. This acquisition extended the product offering to a new group of clients and allowed further integration of wireless and wired technologies for monitoring and dispatch services. Future plans include integrating wireless technologies to create a stronger monitoring and dispatch service base.

Following the formation of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) in 2004, ETI was pleased to receive a PGCB license that is required to sell and service systems in the newly emerging Pennsylvania market. As a result, ETI has provided a combination of fire, smoke control, security and access control systems for three Pennsylvania Casinos, with one casino in each of ETI’s geographic markets. The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, Hollywood Casino at Penn National and Mt. Airy Casino Resort accounts have continued to grow and thrive in the newly established Pennsylvania gaming industry.

ETI has always been a supporter of many community based organizations, such as Boy Scouts of America, foster homes, homeless shelters and youth organizations. In April of 2012, Chuck Rizzo decided to extend ETI’s support further by establishing the James and Margaret Rizzo Memorial Beca at Penn State University Worthington, Chuck’s Alma Mater. The scholarship was established in memory of the two people who taught him to respect others, work hard, be honest and believe that he could accomplish something worthwhile. The scholarship is to be used for needs-based recipients and favors engineering studies.

Throughout the years, ETI has been honored for achievements in the systems integration industry. In December of 2013, ETI was nominated by The Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in the category of “Total Quality Management” as part of the “Top 30 Suppliers” list in the inaugural event by the Sands Casino Resort.

The United States and world economy experienced a substantial recession from 2008 to 2013. In 2014, ETI was honored among Inc. Magazine’s “5000 Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in America,” demonstrating the company’s growth and stability through the 3-year period of economic downturn. Customer satisfaction and responsible fiscal management objectives are credited for ETI’s growth.

As of January 1st 2015, Chuck Rizzo named both Marc and Bryan Rizzo partners of the 33 year old enterprise. Both sons have been involved in various facets of the company at a young age, but started full time employment in January of 2007. Over the last 10 years Chuck has mentored his two sons, initially focusing on the sales/relationship process and then leading into management roles. This was an important first step in the process of family business succession leading into the second generation of ownership at Eastern Time, Inc.

On top of managing the company’s sales team, Marc’s new executive role as Vice President/Treasurer puts his Drexel University Undergraduate degree in business management and DeSales University Graduate degree in project management to work. He is excited for the challenge and looks forward to working with Chuck and Bryan to continue the family business on for another 30+ years.

Bryan will continue to manage the construction department, tightening up accountability and transparency, but will also take on the role of Vice President/Secretary for Eastern Time, Inc. Ongoing construction department experience coupled with his University of Maryland Undergraduate degree in economics will assist him in fulfilling this new role. As with Marc, Bryan is eager to start making a lasting impact to the overall health and longevity of the company.

ETI strategically acquired a WISP in order to provide dedicated, high-speed internet and connectivity throughout the Lehigh Valley area.  Our service provides commercial DIA, BGP and back up internet in addition to residential internet service.

ETI was honored to be one of four national award winners among the +350 national strategic partners.  We were given this award based on the shared commitment of excellence and engineering in the low voltage life safety industry.   This was not possible without the support of our customers, community and employees.

With the growth of our nurse call, security and wireless internet divisions, we decided to dedicate a full team to best satisfy our customer requests.  This team is staffed with a manager, network administrator, project manager, installation technicians and service technicians.  The WiNet, construction, service and inspection teams all work in tandem so our customers receive the best, timely assistance. 

After over 30 years in our Dunmore office, ETI decided to move to Wilkes-Barre, PA on the heavily trafficked and strategically placed River Road.   We are the anchor tenant of a new office complex and with new environment properly suited for our customers and employees.

ETI acquired NAC Divisions, a respected 60 year old life safety systems integrator, to better serve our customers in this region.  ETI is utilizing the existing 4,000sf office as the new regional headquarters and has already added new members to the team to service this region.   

Sciens Building Solutions, LLC headquartered in San Francisco, announced the acquisition of Allentown, Pa.-based Eastern Time Inc. (ETI) to its growing portfolio of companies. This acquisition helps expand Sciens presence in the state of Pennsylvania, where it has existing businesses in Plymouth Meeting (Electronic Security Solutions) and Perkiomenville (Anchor Fire Protection).

Read more here.