HISTORYABCO Automatic Sprinkler Corporation was established in 1958 by William G. Bowe and his father in law, Anthony Robilotta, after Bill worked in the small, but growing New York sprinkler industry as a sprinkler fitter. ABCO was awarded its first contract on August 15th of that year, a fitting 30th birthday present for Bill, who would continue to grow the company in the coming years from ABCO’s first office in Flushing, New York. In 1961, ABCO moved its operations to Port Washington, New York, where it continued to thrive and in 1972, acquired both the Peerless Automatic Sprinkler Company and Modern Sprinkler Corporation, which is still in operation today. After this acquisition, ABCO Automatic changed its name to ABCO Peerless Sprinkler Corporation, where it operated in Garden City, New York until early 2001. During this time, the ABCO family umbrella grew with the addition of ABCO Peerless Fire Suppression, which was dedicated to serving the special hazard fire protection market, and ABCO Peerless Engineering, P.C., which provided professional design services for the ABCO Peerless operation. In 2001, ABCO Peerless moved its corporate headquarters to its current home in Hicksville, New York. As the needs of the now large fire protection market changed throughout the early 2000s, ABCO also added New York Fabrication & Supply to its family, enabling ABCO to produce pre-fabricated material for use on its projects. Now, on the dawn of ABCO Peerless’ 60th anniversary, we are the definition of a full service Fire Protection company.
Restaurants, bowling alleys, social clubs and nursing homes were among ABCO Automatic’s first customers in the early 1960s. In the 1970s, ABCO protected hospitals, country clubs and warehouses. The 1980s brought high rise corporate offices, power generation facilities and retail stores into our portfolio. The technology boom of the 1990s and 2000s saw the rise of data centers, telecommunication facilities and high-tech storage facilities into areas we protected. Today, with over a million and a half sprinklers installed, we protect the entire New York Metropolitan area.