The Cardinal Group

Since 1962, The Cardinal Group’s success is attributed to personalized customer service and quality performance. You will find many familiar faces still operating The Cardinal Group today.

The 1960s

Cardinal Maintenance & Service Co. was founded and incorporated in July 1962 by Andrew G. Pohl. Mr. Pohl decided to quit his bread truck-driving job and venture into the commercial cleaning business. He started cleaning small offices, bars, and restaurants to make ends meet. In 5 years, he managed to secure cleaning accounts such as Roadway Express, IBM and Babcock & Wilcox. July 1, 1966, his son, Dan, joined Cardinal and by 1969 determined that additional services such as commercial refuse removal, property management and specialized interior demolition would be a good addition to better serve Cardinal’s clients.

The 1970s

In 1977, Ray Brophy was an addition to Cardinal. Ray & Dan’s new ideas in general construction services such as construction cleaning, general labor, and selective demolition were added.

Cardinal Environmental was a separate entity from Cardinal Maintenance headed by Ray and Dan and operated out of a separate location.

The 1980s

With the advent of the Environmental Protection Agency, Cardinal Environmental was formed and asbestos removal became a large part of the company's offerings. A sample of Cardinal’s Environmental client list includes Lockheed Martin, Akron Public Schools, Canton City Schools, Ruhlin Company and various facilities in the tri-state area. Cardinal Environmental Services also performs mold abatement, hazardous spill cleanup and underground remediation.

The 1990s and beyond

During the late 1980’s, asbestos roofing became an issue; therefore, Cardinal Environmental started removing commercial roofs for major roofing contractors. This necessitated Cardinal’s entry into the commercial roofing industry. A sample of Cardinal’s Roofing client list includes The University of Akron, Kent State University, U.S. Postal Service, Akron Art Museum, the City of Akron and many schools and industries.

In the mid 1990’s, opportunity arose again in the safety supply industry. The environmental industry is a major purchaser of safety equipment; therefore, when The Safeware Company announced its plans to leave the Ohio area, Cardinal purchased its inventory and Cardinal Safety Products was started. Most importantly, along with the inventory purchase, Cardinal also obtained Greg Wilson and his 30 years of safety experience. Cardinal Safety is currently a leader in safety consulting and equipment sales. A sample of Cardinal’s Safety client list includes First Energy, Lockheed Martin, Aircraft Braking Systems, BWX Technologies, Park Farms and Parker Hannifin.

Cardinal Maintenance suffered a great loss when Andy Pohl passed away in 1994. At this point, Dan Pohl decided to connect the two companies. Cardinal Environmental and Cardinal Maintenance were located together and headed up by Dan Pohl and Ray Brophy.

In 1997 it was obvious, because of growth, the Cardinal Group needed a new and bigger home. After months of searching, Cardinal constructed a new building in Barberton, Ohio. Continued expansion prompted another move. In 2009, The Cardinal Group took possession of its current headquarters in Akron.

Dan Pohl remains the CEO of the corporation, with Ray Brophy as the President. Dave Dubravetz is the director of the Roofing division. Greg Wilson continues to head up the Safety division, with his brother Doug Wilson as our sales representative. The people of Cardinal have made it what it is today.