David Cooper

Statistics say that the average person will change careers six times in their professional life.

I haven’t.

My engineering/construction career began with a box of Lego before I ever lost my two front teeth, and continued when in the second grade, I watched my dad build our house near West Palm Beach, FL.

I loved Saturdays when I could go “help” him with the project. He probably never realized it, but I was watching and absorbing all the details I could pack away in my young memory.

As I got older, I was always tinkering with something, maybe building a tree house, fixing a lawnmower, or otherwise planning some contraption that I had conjured up in my mind.

Freshman year at community college was the first time I really focused on academics, and decided I wanted to go to Georgia Tech to study engineering. I applied, and then a few months later, I got a thin envelope in the mail – REJECTED!

So after Calculus class that spring Friday afternoon, with my rejection letter in hand, I used a payphone in the student center and called the Dean of Admissions at GT.

I explained that “no” was not an acceptable answer, and kept him on the phone until he finally agreed that if I repeated a class that I had gotten a C in, and got at least a B, he would let me in.

I did, and he did.

After graduation from Tech, I spent 10 years designing highways for public and private clients all over the country.

But the kid inside me that still loved his Lego just wasn’t content sitting in an office all day.

So I left the design world and went to work for a home builder where I oversaw the design and construction of new residential subdivisions. After four years of this, I was ready to do my own thing and started down the path that would lead me to begin CPEX in 2010.

Up to that point, I had learned that all of the sub contractors who I had worked with fell into one of two categories.

The first were those that wanted to do what they had to so they could submit an invoice.

Then there were those who wanted to be a part of what we were doing and felt connected to our mission.

Usually, it only took a short meeting with a new face to figure out which camp they belonged in.

In CPEX, I knew I wanted to be a part of what my clients were doing and connected to their objectives.

Starting business in 2010 was tough as the Great Recession still persisted.

I remember telling myself that I was simply going to focus every day on being someone who other people would want to do business with, and the rest would work itself out.

This simple philosophy still guides us today.

When I’m not working I enjoy most anything involving an ocean, or a really big body of water.

On land, I enjoy coaching youth football!  I have ten seasons under my belt and am excited to teach little kids to love the game.