We spoke this past summer with Johnathan Garlow, CEO of Ford Office Technologies, the 34-year-old dealership in Connellsville, PA, 50 miles south and east of Pittsburgh. Johnathan (top, center) and Justin (at left), business development director, are second-generation dealer owners; their late father, John, started the business (Ford was his mother’s maiden name) in 1991—the same year that Pearl Jam released “Ten,” the Seattle grunge/rock band’s debut album. (The Garlow brothers are pictured with Co-Owner and President Josh Gerson, who is their cousin.)
Now with five locations, “Fordtech” is Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio’s largest independent, full-line authorized provider of the industry’s top manufacturers for copiers, printers, and multifunction office technology—including products from Canon, Konica Minolta, Ricoh, Kyocera, HP, and Xerox. Print represents the dealer’s roots but, like many owners, the Garlows believe that managed information technology (IT) services represent growth opportunities for the future of their dealership, which for 2024 surpassed $30 million in total annual revenue. They’re on pace for double-digit percentage growth this year, hoping to crack $35 million, Johnathan adds, with a fairly even mix of organic growth and acquisitions.
“I’m supposed to be maturing as I approach my 40s,” joked Johnathan, who I met in July at the Copier Dealer Association’s annual owners’ meeting in Chicago. (He’s president of CDA.) As Ford’s business has matured, its leader realizes how important succession planning is. (More on that topic in a moment.) The dealership recorded annual revenue of $5.8 million in 2009, the year after he graduated from Penn State with an architectural engineering degree, then it steadily grew to surpass $8 million. “Our dad fought to get authorized in Pittsburgh and Allegheny [County],” the present chief executive says of the elder Garlow, who suffered from heart disease and passed away in 2018 at age 60.
Johnathan had left his two-year project engineering job at a Pittsburgh construction company to assume the dealer’s presidency in 2010. Within five more years, annual revenue had increased to $13 million “and we started providing IT services in 2015,” he recalls. “We had maybe $300,000 in managed IT revenue back then.” Ten years later, Garlow reports that managed services have grown to account for more than $9.3 million (>30%) of the firm’s revenues; he expects that copier/IT split to near 50% moving forward.
“We are located within a three-hour radius of Pittsburgh, Harrisburg [PA], Baltimore, and Buffalo [NY],” observes Garlow. Within that geographic region, “there are probably in the area of 14,000 MSPs in the process of consolidating,” he notes, “and there will be fallout.”
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Co-Owners Johnathan (left foreground) and Justin Garlow (right foreground) represent the second-generation at Fordtech; between the brothers is their cousin, President Josh Gerson.
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MV: What’s your BIGGEST challenge as a 40-year-old running a second-generation office technology provider heading into 2026?
JG: In all sincerity, I don’t think it’s the age that matters. Our industry is transitioning. We cannot simply run our businesses like we used to. If you are not developing better people within your organizations and continually growing, you will be left behind. This is not our parents’ lifestyle business anymore. We are competing for a shrinking market share with professional companies and leadership, in a very mature product offering on the imaging sides of our businesses.
I do see light in developing our IT services offerings. This is the area that there is so much opportunity in. It is a way to differentiate us from our competitors.
MV: What are the main business lessons you’ve learned during the 10-year journey in managed IT services?
JG: It is not the imaging business. The IT business requires true expertise. The buyers for these services are different. So, what we have learned is what not to do, which includes:
- Do not lead with VoIP
- It is not selling some Sharp Aquos or Promethean boards
- It is not a camera or wiring system
- And lastly, we are not the low-budget option
These opportunities will be brought to you along the way and, by all means, we try to win them, but they are not the foundation on what we are looking to build our managed IT services offering on. We are looking for monthly retainer-based clients who value our expertise in network management, cybersecurity, and consulting services as we move into this data analytics-driven world.
MV: How long have you presided over the Copier Dealers Association (CDA)? Takeaways?
JG: I started my role as president of CDA in 2025 and will wrap up at the end of 2026. This group has been transformative to me. I joined CDA in 2011, about a year after joining my father’s company. The group welcomed me and, furthermore, my father allowed me to consume content offered by these great providers. There are a lot of great groups in our industry, but I can only speak of the one I know.
I was fortunate to have a lot of people who have shaped me over the years. I had learned and embraced a mindset years ago that if Ford Office Technologies wanted to be amongst the best providers, I better surround myself and learn from some of the best, so that’s what I did.
I am honored that the group would think highly enough of me to recommend me for this role and responsibility.
MV: Why is succession planning so critical for dealer owners?
JG: Succession planning isn’t just about continuity—it’s about culture. When leadership transitions are intentional and well-structured, it preserves the values and vision that define a company. I’ve seen firsthand how a lack of planning can destabilize a business. That’s why we’ve made it a priority at Ford, not just for ownership but across all key roles.
I am not sure why it is not talked about more. Tomorrow is not promised. To not have a plan for your clients and team members, who helped you get to where you are, is sheer insanity. There is a sense of human pride that some of these owners take in their businesses to the point that it cripples decision-making around mortality. Whether you are 30 or 70+ in this business, people rely on the ownership and leadership of their provider. Our mission at Ford Office Technologies is to help businesses thrive, and you can’t do that without a plan, which includes the worst-case scenario of you, the owner, not being there and what happens after.
The Garlows believe Fordtech’s future lies in managed IT services.
MV: You’ve cited Gino Wickman’s book, Traction, about “Entrepreneurial Operating Systems.” Why has EOS become such a driving force for “the three Js” (Johnathan & Justin Garlow and Co-Owner/President Josh Gerson) at Ford Office Technologies over the past five years?
JG: EOS gave us a framework to align our goals, clarify roles, and stay accountable. For our ownership group, Justin, Josh, and me, it’s been transformative. We’ve moved from reactive to proactive leadership, and our team has embraced the clarity and structure EOS provides. It’s helped us scale while staying true to our mission.
I am an engineer by schooling, so this structure helped me eliminate the obstacle of wanting to develop my own system and principles to run Ford Office Technologies, and allowed me to focus on growing. The final piece of clarity.
MV: Will Ford Office Technologies reach the $36 million revenue goal in 2025? How will you grow 15% year over year?
JG: We are on track to hit that milestone. Growth is coming from expanded MSP offerings, deeper client relationships, and strategic acquisitions. We’ve invested heavily in talent and infrastructure, and our EOS-driven planning keeps us laser focused.
Our growth will continue to happen organically and through acquisition. We have a charged sales culture, which is infectious throughout our entire organization, and a dedicated team to deliver on what we put out there. We have excitement and momentum moving towards our goals that cannot be slowed down. We are instituting internal curriculum to make better leaders, supercharging our internship program, and removing all barriers to help our team members shatter the norms of our industry.
Gerson (left), a U.S. military veteran, presides over the dealership’s day-to-day operations. Along with his Garlow cousins, he is a Fordtech co-owner.
MV: You’ve shared that your three-year goal is $48 million in total revenue by 2027. Can you offer some details about your plans to achieve that goal?
JG: We strive to be the best in the office technology business. We are intentional with our team members and our clients. True office technology providers are bigger than just imaging, and I think their financials should be reflective of that. Our immediate big picture goal is to serve 10,000 clients by 2030. Once we get closer to that, we will establish another 10-year goal, and who knows where that will take us. But for now, we are laser-focused on that.
This revenue train stop toward our 10,000 goal is a pivotal one for us, and we are confident that it will happen within 2027. The reasoning is that, around this revenue, we are projecting our IT services revenue to outpace our traditional imaging revenue.
