Pool Covers Inc. Safety Pool Cover

Pool Covers Inc. Company Profile

About Pool Covers Inc

Pool Covers, Inc. has earned a worldwide reputation as an industry leader in safety pool covers, recognized for its quality, service, and innovation.

The Early Years

The company began in 1984 in Marin County when the present majority owner, Bill Pickens, sold his first pool cover, collected the deposit, ordered it, and installed it himself. His office was in a spare bedroom and the garage was used for storage. Later in 1984, his wife Bonnie left her job and joined the business.

Pool Covers, Inc. purchased the automatic pool cover division of Hughes-Pacific, a major competitor, in 1987. By 1988, the company's growth required additional space, thus a 20,000 square foot building was purchased in Richmond, California.

Growth and Expansion

During the 90's the company expanded service to the East Bay, Sacramento, and San Joaquin Valleys by establishing a dealer network. It's expertise in pool covers led the way in developing products that are now industry standards such as manual track covers, Pool in a pool configurations, walk on tray lids, and flood-proof motors.

By the year 2000 it had become not only the largest independent pool cover company in California but also nationwide.

Among its clients are the majority of the pool builders in northern and central California. As the new century dawned, it acquired its East Bay dealer, California Pool Covers, and the Northern California PoolSaver operations.

Today Pool Covers Inc. operates throughout Northern California.

Awards and Recognition for Service and Management

Today, Pool Covers, Inc. continues to be a rapidly growing small business, acknowledged as a leader and professional in the industry. Pool Covers, Inc. has consistently been awarded top nationwide distributor awards.

Pool Covers, Inc. has also been awarded the rating of "Very High Customer Satisfaction" by ValueStar Certification, a rating released by the Public Research Institute at San Francisco State University. For this, Pool Covers, Inc. passed ValueStar's 4 step rating process in the areas of Customer Satisfaction, Complaint Status Check, License Verifications, and Insurance Verification.

All Awards and Recognitions

  • 2005 All Star Award from the Great Game of Business, recognized for outstanding accomplishments in creating a culture of ownership within our company
  • Chronicle Jobs 2005 Employers of Excellence/Dimensional Awards Winners
  • Dealer of the Year Award by Pool Cover Specialists
  • Better Business Bureau Honor Roll
  • Member of Association of Pool and Spa Professionals (APSP )Previously the National Spa and Pool Institute (NSPI)
  • Member of California Spa and Pool Industry Education Council (SPEC)
  • Member of California Chamber of Commerce
  • Member of National Plasterer’s Council

An Employee Owned Company

From the onset, the style of the Pickens' has been participatory management. It was a natural progression to move the company toward employee ownership and in 1997 it became an ESOP company.

Pool Covers, Inc.'s corporate purpose is to make the lives of people more comfortable. It adheres to a core group of company values: integrity, honesty, respect, recognition, trust, enriching the lives of the community and commitment to excellence.

Employees share in the profits of the company via shares of the company stock. Pool covers, Inc. has developed a CEO program (Certified Employee Owner) which requires all employees not only be proficient in job skills but take classes in business literacy and ESOP fundamentals.

Believing that no one provides service like an owner, employee-owners are empowered to make decisions that are fair to the customer and to the company. They are held accountable for those decisions.