Acme Fence 4th Gen Northeast Ohio Family Biz Celebrates 85 Years of Success
A version of this story appears in Crain’s Cleveland Business on 11/11/2024.
For most of 2023, Beachwood business owner Donny Zigdon searched the Midwest for a commercial manufacturing company to add to his portfolio of family businesses. His eventual choice landed close to home — and further from what he ever expected.
In October 2023, Zigdon became the fourth-generation owner and chief executive officer of Acme Fence — his family’s legacy residential and commercial fencing business based in Akron since 1939.
According to 2024 data from SCORE, only 12 percent of small family businesses survive from the second to third generation – making it to the fourth generation surely must be some type of supernatural phenomena.
Donny Zigdon, CEO/Owner
“What an opportunity to carry on my family’s legacy from what our grandfather Harry Davidson started, Zigdon says. “What I really love about owning and leading a family business is having a focus on culture and values in addition to running a successful company where our team members can earn a good living and be engaged in their work. Together, we develop people, support the community and grow the business.
“We’re not corporate America. We’re not at the mercy of private equity. Our employees feel like family,” he added.
Entrepreneurs From the Start
Both Zigdon and his wife Ketti (nee Kanfer), come from entrepreneurial families. Donny’s father, Benny Zigdon started and ran a travel agency, Travel by Benny in Beachwood. Ketti’s father, Joe Kanfer led GOJO, Makers of PURELL™, which was co-founded in 1946 by his aunt and uncle Goldie and Jerry Lippman for decades. Ketti’s maternal grandfather, Allen Lewis, inherited Acme Fence from his father-in-law Harry Davidson, and passed it along to Ketti’s uncle, Randy Lewis.
Before taking over Acme Fence, Zigdon started his career at GOJO in the operational excellence department during the H1N1 outbreak, working to increase capacity for the significant surge in demand of PURELL® Hand Sanitizer.
In pursuit of his entrepreneurial aspirations in 2013, he partnered with the Kanfer family and Bendis family to form KBZ Partners to acquire a manufacturing company in Northeast Ohio. In 2014, KBZ Partners, partnered with Ryan Carroll, then owner of Lake City Plating, to grow Lake City Plating together. Over the course of 10 years, they grew Lake City Plating from 50 employees in a 45,000- square-foot facility to 150 employees in a 180,000-square-foot facility in Jefferson, OH.
Today, Zigdon continues as a partner in Lake City Plating and serves on the financial and strategic committees.
The Acme Fence of the Future
With the addition of Acme Fence in 2023, he sees a bright future for the longstanding company, even though the fencing industry was at the peak of the market when he chose to jump in. “Since the hot Covid market has cooled and inflationary costs have slowed the industry, we’ve had time to learn the fencing business, make improvements and really set things on a course for success,” Zigdon says.
Some of those improvements include automating customer-facing quoting, communication and billing technology along with marketing and fulfillment; upgrading equipment; extending product line colors and styles; investing in new hardware; upgrading and investing in marketing; launching a new website; upgrading internal systems and processing.
Most importantly, Zigdon plans to carry out his family’s legacy of providing beautiful fences, built to last.
“We’re really about beautifying the community while at the same time making it safer for families and pets. Our plans are to grow Acme Fence by expanding more into commercial fencing while enlarging the geographic range of our residential service area,” Zigdon says.
He knows this strategy will allow the company to create more jobs and provide for his family and assure security for future generations. Yes, Zigdon does hope for a fifth generation. They’ll have to work their way through, he says.
“My dream is to make Acme Fence a familiar name in Northeast Ohio, known for being a values-driven company and recognized for its contributions to the community. Our goal is to install at least 250,000 feet of residential and commercial fence every year,” Zigdon says proudly.
Need a fence for your home, your pet or your business? Choose Acme Fence: Designing and installing durable, beautiful fences for privacy, safety and peace of mind across Northeast Ohio since 1939.
AcmeFence.com | 330.784.0456 | Secure your workforce, your property and your assets.