SPONSORED BY A. CASPERSEN CO.
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Jeff Herbert
27050-HDP50-AntSlate- 0026
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Chelsea C. Caspersen
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Chelsea Caspersen was 5 years old when her father, Eric A. Caspersen, started his construction company, A. Caspersen Co., which focuses on exterior home improvements such as windows, siding, roofing and doors. “I grew up watching him,” says Chelsea Caspersen. “I was a child going to window manufacturers with him.” The knowledge she garnered at a young age led to her officially becoming the new owner of the company last year, after a slow transition as her dad got older.
Despite years of experience, she has faced some challenges as a woman in construction. Only about 11 percent of the construction industry is female workers, according to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. She has had people doubt her knowledge, but she proves to them that she knows the industry. “I just really went overboard with learning as much as I could. I’m on the job site, so I’m watching our work be done and learning more and more so that … they can trust me,” she says. “I try to stand out with my knowledge, and so far, it’s worked.”
Caspersen is confident that her company can provide the best experience for customers. They have educational conversations with clients instead of giving rehearsed sales pitches or using high-pressure sales tactics. She makes sure the company upholds the ethics her father based the business on. “His big thing was Christian ethics, which really just is having integrity, honesty and accountability,” she says.
With that mainstay, the company has evolved, with recent changes including a trendy remodel of the Cuyahoga Falls office. Caspersen says the office, in addition to its on-site showroom, provide a better experience for customers, who can see examples of many different products and color options in use instead of picking based off a small sample.
She hopes to continue improving customers’ experiences while also growing the company further and continuing to give back to the community.
A. Caspersen Co. recently completed a project for the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, installing hundreds of doors and thousands of windows. The company also made Qualified Remodeler magazine's top 500 list.
“Through it all, I’ve stuck with my father’s core values,” Caspersen says. “I think that’s why we’ve been in business for 28 years.”
A. Caspersen Co., 3473 Wyoga Lake Road, Cuyahoga Falls