How CTS Was Built, 1980-Today
This page keeps more of the literal company history than the About-page version. It preserves the founder’s risk, the early operating realities, and the major platform shifts that shaped CTS before carrying the story forward into managed IT, datacenter, security, acquisitions, hybrid work, compliance, AI, and current leadership.
Launch
CTS begins with a gap in the market. Customers want a monthly managed-service model instead of a capital-heavy telecom purchase, and that unmet demand becomes the reason the company exists.
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1980 More context
Stan Leaves ITT and Starts CTS Companies
After becoming the top global rep at ITT, Stan Stevens leaves when customers ask for a managed monthly service model that ITT refuses to provide.
Why it matters
CTS was founded to meet a real customer demand for guidance, accountability, and a lower-risk way to consume technology, not simply to sell more hardware.
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1980 More context
CTS Launches With Conviction In The Model
With no large reserve of capital, Stan mortgages his home, incorporates CTS, and begins selling in October 1980.
Why it matters
The launch reflects a clear belief that customers needed a better service experience and a willingness to make personal sacrifices in order to build it.
Early Growth
The first phase of growth is about proving the model, surviving uncertain weeks, and building enough delivery capacity to keep pace with demand.
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Late 1980 More context
The First Customers Prove The Model
After several unsettling weeks with no sales, the first customer wins arrive in November and December and give the business real momentum.
Why it matters
CTS’ first customers proved that the managed-service model worked and that organizations wanted a partner to help them grow, not just someone to sell them hardware.
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1981-1985 More context
Demand Forces The Business To Scale Delivery
Sales grow enough to add more installers while the founder pushes through the intense workload required to stabilize a young service business.
Why it matters
This is where CTS starts becoming a true operating business instead of a founder-only sales effort. Delivery capacity had to scale because demand was no longer occasional.
Expansion And Stability
The late 1980s move CTS out of survival mode. Leadership broadens, the regional footprint grows, and the business starts to look durable rather than experimental.
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1985 More context
Joe Joins And The Leadership Base Expands
Joe joins CTS in 1985, becomes a major contributor to the company’s growth, and helps build the leadership structure needed for the next phase.
Why it matters
The company becomes less dependent on one person and more capable of supporting broader regional growth, larger accounts, and a stronger service presence.
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1986 More context
Ann Arbor Expansion And Larger Accounts Follow
CTS opens its Ann Arbor office in 1986 and begins building traction with larger commercial relationships, including a large automotive leasing firm.
Why it matters
Geography and account complexity both expand in this stage, showing that CTS can support a more serious client base than the company served at launch.
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1987 More context
The Business Moves Into A More Stable Operating Phase
By 1987, account growth and a more structured sales function show that CTS has moved beyond early survival and into a more durable operating model.
Why it matters
The company is no longer just proving it can win work. It is proving it can keep, support, and grow client relationships over time.
Platform Shift And IT Expansion
In the 1990s CTS stops being only a communications company and becomes a broader IT and infrastructure partner. This is the decade where the modern identity really begins to take shape.
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1990 More context
CTS Enters IT Services
CTS begins delivering IT services in 1990, extending the service-led mindset from telecom into broader business technology support.
Why it matters
This is the most important strategic shift in the company’s public story: the service model is no longer tied to one technology category.
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1992 More context
Chris Bacon Strengthens The IT Practice
Chris Bacon comes on board in 1992 and helps deepen the technical bench behind CTS’ growing IT service capability.
Why it matters
The IT expansion is not just a new label. It is supported by durable technical leadership that gives the practice staying power.
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1995 More context
Digital Networking Pushes A Platform Change
As systems become more digital and networked, CTS moves to NEC in 1995 to better serve larger and more complex client environments.
Why it matters
This is an adaptability milestone. CTS changes platforms when the market changes, rather than forcing customers to fit an aging solution.
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Late 1990s-2000 More context
Larger Environments Drive The Next Stage Of Scale
Through the end of the decade, CTS wins larger bid-based work and supports more demanding environments than the company handled in its early years.
Why it matters
By the end of the 1990s, CTS is operating at a substantially larger scale and is trusted in more complex environments than at launch.
Datacenter And Acquisition Growth
The next era broadens the company through infrastructure expansion, acquisitions, and adjacent security capabilities. The story is less personal here and more about how the platform gets bigger and more useful.
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Early 2000s More context
CTS Begins Datacenter Operations
CTS adds datacenter operations in the early 2000s, expanding deeper into infrastructure support and long-term environment management.
Why it matters
This strengthens the company’s IT identity and expands the kinds of client environments CTS can own and support.
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2001-2007 More context
The First Acquisition Wave Broadens Capability
CTS broadens its platform through acquisitions while it deepens its ability to support larger and more varied client environments.
Key milestones
- Digital Data Solution (2001)
- RN Communication (2004)
- Magna Communication (2007)
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2014-2017 More context
Acquisition Growth Continues And Security Expands
CTS continues expanding through acquisition and adds adjacent security capabilities that matter to modern operational environments.
Key milestones
- Motor City Communication (2014)
- D&S Communication (2017)
- Video surveillance and door access control added in 2017
Family Leadership And Managed IT
The leadership transition in 2019 is both a family-business milestone and a strategic positioning milestone, because the original service philosophy is translated into a modern managed IT offering.
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2019 More context
AJ And Stanley Take Over CTS And Push Managed IT Forward
Two of Stan’s children, AJ and Stanley, take over CTS and formalize a fully managed IT direction built on the same managed, consultative operating model the company had already been refining for decades.
Why it matters
The transition is not a break from the company’s roots. It extends the same service philosophy into a modern IT program, making CTS the first in Michigan to offer a fully managed IT program.
Hybrid Work And Current CTS
The current era shows what the company’s long service history means in practice: CTS can move fast under pressure, keep clients operational, and continue broadening its platform while staying anchored in consultative support.
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2020 More context
Rapid Hybrid Rollout Keeps Local Businesses Operating
During the work-from-home shift, CTS helps hundreds of local businesses adopt hybrid environments in less than a month and continues supporting that work for years afterward.
Why it matters
This is one of the clearest examples of CTS turning deep service experience into real operational continuity when clients need it most.
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2021 More context
Compliance Management Becomes A Formal Customer Capability
CTS begins helping customers prepare for and maintain compliance programs so requirements become manageable operational work instead of recurring disruption.
Framework support
- CMMC preparation for Department of Defense customers
- NIST, ISO, PCI, and HIPAA readiness support
- Ongoing compliance maintenance and operational guidance
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2022 More context
CTS Helps Customers Deploy AI In Practical Ways
CTS helps customers build and deploy AI-enabled applications, prepare data for responsible AI use, and support employees as AI becomes part of daily work.
Why it matters
The AI work is meant to be operational and useful, not experimental theater. CTS also applies AI internally in safe, bounded ways so employees can spend more time supporting customers.
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2023-Today More context
Current CTS Continues Expanding The Platform
CCI Communication joins CTS in 2023 as the company continues operating as a managed IT, security, datacenter, and advisory partner for Michigan businesses.
Why it matters
The current identity is not a reinvention. It is the latest version of a consultative service model that has continued evolving with customers over time.
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The Future More context
CTS Is Building Toward Smarter, Safer Operations
The next phase of CTS is focused on secure infrastructure, managed IT maturity, compliance-ready operations, practical AI adoption, and stronger strategic guidance.
Why it matters
CTS is moving toward a model where infrastructure, security, compliance, data, and automation are treated as one connected operational strategy rather than as separate projects.