Need to Know

• Charles D. Sheehy marks 75 years in business in 2026, building on a client-first mentality established at its founding in 1951.
• The company’s 2017 expansion into plumbing became a major growth milestone, bringing new products, a new headquarters, and a larger team.
• Technology, transparency, and strong customer relationships shape the company’s approach to service.

Expansive Growth

One of the company's key growth moments came when it expanded into plumbing in 2017. Once that happened, it was a whole new world. The move brought new products, a new headquarters and a bigger team, while giving the company's leadership group the scale to match its ambition. Along with all of that, CDS found a receptive contracting community that quickly embraced it.

“From there, we became a much more active player across more geographies and got in on some genuinely interesting projects that wouldn't have crossed our desk a decade earlier,” Camuso said. “Every milestone since has been built on that momentum.”

But the journey to becoming what CDS is today wasn't without its struggles, or some hard decisions.

“Getting from a specialized, uber-regional distributor to what we are today meant making calls that cut against our own history,” Camuso said. “We used to be a shop where everyone wore five hats and senior management had eyes on everything. We had to abandon that concept in order to scale, and that meant investing hard in leadership.”

The result? A team built to be best-in-class and, as Camuso describes it, Fortune 500-esque.

“And that's on purpose,” Camuso said.

Focused, Client-Driven, Digital-First

Every call CDS makes comes down to one question: Does this make things better for its clients and its team? There's no second-guessing each other, and when something breaks, they "fail fast and fail forward," Camuso said.

The company is guided by 35 principles it calls the Sheehy Standards, and they govern everything. Every operation. Every call. Every decision.

“Two that stick with me: Honor Commitments and Practice Blameless Problem-Solving,” Camuso said. “Translation: Do what you said you'd do, and when it goes wrong, skip the blame and just fix the damn thing.”

And that philosophy doesn't stop at the walls of CDS. Its clients see it in action.

Brian Potter, CEO of TG Gallagher Mechanical Contractors, said TGG and CDS have had a multigenerational relationship dating back to CDS' inception. He describes CDS as a valued partner that goes beyond simply supplying material.

In today's market, even supplying that material isn't always an easy feat. Inflation, tariffs and other economic factors can create supply chain challenges, making transparency and communication increasingly important. For CDS, transparency is key.

The company's Commodity Watch tool, available on its website, tracks government actions tied to material costs in real time. CDS also keeps significant inventory on hand. Sometimes the company still has to deliver news a client doesn't want to hear, but when that happens, the goal is to deliver it quickly and offer advice on what to do next.

“They are actively engaged in working with us to mitigate the ebbs and flows of supply chain issues,” Potter said. “Whether its availability or escalation, they work with us to help us provide the best solution for our clients.”

And that isn't by accident. When CDS is running the way it should, Camuso says the company is an extension of its clients, not simply a vendor.

“We employ a leading safety program and coordinate material releases with project schedules, allowing us to move with modern contractors better than most in this space,” Camuso said.

Does the client want hands-on support and a real partner in the trenches? CDS is built for that. Do they need something more sophisticated, like someone working alongside consulting engineers and tracking project milestones with its own technology? They bring that, too.

“That range is what gives us the right to win,” Camuso said.

Training and Education

Delivering that range requires a team prepared to keep learning. At CDS, growth, both personal and professional, is close to a religion.

“We meet our industry partners where they are, or just past it,” Camuso said.

So much so that CDS requires a continuing education path running from ASA University and A-D up through Texas A&M and MIT Sloan.

"Learning about AI is fun on its own, but what we want is for our leaders to understand new tech and specifically AI in the context of running a high-performing, growth-minded distribution company," said Camuso. "Beyond that, we're committed to working closely with our manufacturers to learn about new products and solutions as they come to market, while also listening to our customers and partners about what they actually need, so we've always got the knowledge and use case to back them up."

That commitment to learning also influences how CDS approaches technology. Rather than adopting technology simply for technology's sake, the company looks for friction points in its operations and customer experience, then looks for ways to remove them.

“Our IT, operations, and sales teams collaborate to listen to our partners and identify where we can create efficiencies and value,” Camuso said. “When we find a gap, we build something to close it. That's what keeps us in front, instead of reacting after the fact. That's the standard we're chasing across the board: find the friction point, build something that removes it, and keep improving the experience for our partners. All of these initiatives have the benefit of getting us a seat in the room sooner.”

Company and Community Culture

Of course, technology is only part of that equation. At its core, CDS' approach to customer service comes back to its people and processes.

Bill Dunham, CEO of J.C. Higgins, said if he had to fit his thoughts about the CDS team onto a bumper sticker, it would say, "There when it counts!"

“No matter the size of the order, every request is treated with the same high level of urgency and care,” Dunham said. “Their commitment to our partnership and degree of professionalism is second to none. They play a significant role in allowing us to perform for our customers.”

Being a smaller, concentrated team works in CDS' favor, according to Camuso. Inside sales, outside sales and the counter are able to cultivate real relationships every day, meaning the company isn't starting from scratch every time a customer reaches out.

“And that means when a customer reaches out, we recognize them,” said Camuso. “We know their project, its nuances, and its challenges, and that lets us bring the right solution instead of guessing. That builds trust, and trust is what gets a partner to be honest about their challenges. The conversation quickly turns generative, and we learn from it every day. We improve. That's the learning loop.”

Jonathan Desmond, CEO of Cox Engineering, also points to CDS' customer service, dependable deliveries and ability to consistently have the material Cox needs.

“What really sets them apart, though, is their people — they’re responsive, knowledgeable, and always looking for ways to improve how they serve their customers,” Desmond said.

That focus on relationships also reaches beyond customers and into the communities CDS serves.

The company supports local farmers through a community-supported agriculture program, brings local food trucks on-site to support community-based businesses and partners with a local church on food drives. CDS also works with local MCAA chapters to provide college scholarships to children of those working in the building trades, while looking for ways to connect industry-adjacent young people with meaningful career paths.

For CDS, those efforts come back to giving back and building lasting relationships with the people and organizations around it.

More to Come

What Charles D. Sheehy has accomplished for the company and its client partners is only a preface to what's next. The company is committed to innovation and continued growth, and one of the ways it's looking ahead is through social media.

Social media isn't just marketing to CDS. It's a way to pull back the curtain for its stakeholders and show the work behind the finished product. The company has spent years building and refining its processes, and it wants its customers and partners to see not just the end result, but what goes into getting it right.

That extends to the products, projects, components and services the company is working on, too. Being active on social media gives customers and partners another way to stay connected to CDS every day, even when they're not walking through its doors.

"Even if they're not walking through our doors, they can see what we're working on, what's happening across the company, and where we're headed," Camuso said. "It's another way for us to stay engaged with our customers and our industry. It's one more way we keep innovating. Standing still is going backwards, and around here, we'd rather build the future than wait for it."