Forty Years of CPS

This August marks forty years for Continental Partition Systems.

Forty years of work in schools, hotels, recreation centers, offices, and all types of gathering spaces. Forty years of relationships with general contractors, owners, subcontractors, and employees.


Starting off as a small Colorado operation, Continental Partition Systems carried its name far beyond its starting point. Over the years, the work took our crews from coast to coast and even beyond to Alaska, Hawaii, and the Bahamas. Many outside of our niche industry have never heard of operable walls or airwalls. The people who work with them know exactly who to call. That reach reflects years of meeting our own standards and helping people solve problems across the country.

CPS was founded by people who had a dream to build something of their own. They were hardworking people who believed good work should last and relationships should matter just as much as the work itself. Not every project can go perfectly, but when general contractors and owners choose CPS, they know we take the steps to deliver no matter what. That mindset continues to guide the company today.
 

How It Began

The story of Continental Partition Systems begins in 1986 when Bob Wilkinson and Steve Bell founded the company. If you’ve read our “About” page, you already know that we started off servicing overhead doors. Like many small trade businesses, work was earned through reputation and persistence.

This eventually led to an encounter with a man who worked in a hotel. He asked if they worked on airwalls. At the time, local companies in the operable wall industry did not really do service and repair work. While Bob and Steve had never worked on one, they knew they would figure it out. This one request uncovered a new, exciting path. Here was an opening in the industry. People had walls but no way to keep them working at optimal efficiency. Decision made, they did what they had always done. They took the job and got to work learning the mechanics of airwalls.

From that moment, they pursued airwall service and repair, developing the values that continue to shape the company today. Problems were meant to be solved. A job worth doing was a job worth doing right. Partnerships were meant to last.

During the past five years, we have said goodbye to both of our founders. Their absence is felt, much like the quiet in a workshop after the tools are set down for the night. We mourned the loss of their presence, yet we hold tight to the wisdom they passed along.
 

Here We Are Today

Over time a company gathers more than projects. It gathers experience. Much of that experience lives in the people who do the work every day. The people of CPS have seen nearly every type of operable wall system. Every brand. Every model.

Operable partitions themselves have not changed much in the last fifty years. Some things have improved. Airwalls no longer rely on air bladders.  However, the construction industry has changed. We have changed with it.


Our skills pass from technician to technician. Diverse minds lead to diverse solutions. Exchanges between novices and veterans develop the knowledge and trust that keep the work moving forward. One day we may install a brand-new wall. The next day, we may work on a wall that’s 30 years old. It’s through time that CPS has forged itself into a company that can handle both.
 

To the Future!

Forty years is a meaningful milestone. It offers a chance to look back on the work that shaped the company and the people who made it possible.

At the same time, the focus remains on the work ahead. The CPS team continues to strengthen partnerships, share knowledge with the next generation, and approach each project with the same steady commitment that built the company in the first place.

This year begins with the past in our hearts and the future in mind.