From the Roof Down

It’s not often that a summer job results in a career, not to mention becoming president. 

But that’s the path that Stefan Peters has followed with Preferred, Inc., a Fort Wayne company that serves the painting, roofing and flooring needs of industrial and commercial businesses in northeast Indiana and beyond.

Peters recently was promoted to president of the company by CEO and owner Jerry Brown. 

Founded in 1973, Preferred started as a residential paint contractor. In the early 1980s the company shifted its focus to painting industrial facilities, and added the roofing division in the early 80s followed by the flooring division in the early 1990s.

“I have big shoes to fill,” Peters says. “Preferred is a well-established company. There are a lot of people who have been here for a long time that I have been fortunate to learn from. They are the ones who got this company to where it is today.

“I am here to facilitate the transition to the future to make sure the company is still around in another 50 years.” 

Peters went to work for Preferred in 2007 as a summer helper on the roofing crew before his last year of college at Indiana University. His hard work earned him a spot as a part-time helper during his last year of college. When he returned to school, he continued to work part-time for Preferred, helping with flooring and painting projects when the weather prevented roofing work.

One thing led to another, and after he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Public Management, he went to work full-time for Preferred, learning the project and sales side of the business.

Peters emphasizes that the work ethic and culture at Preferred are some of the keys to its success. “We have a great team atmosphere here.” 

Roofing jobs have led owners and managers to look to Preferred for painting and flooring projects and vice versa. This cross-pollination of divisions has helped the company during the pandemic with the limited access to plants for sales calls. “It’s hard to get in front of potential customers right now,” Peters says.

Peters says Preferred has worked on jobs in 13 states in the last few years. “In fact, we are working on a project in Kentucky right now,” Peters says.

As far as plans for the future of Preferred, Peters says he believes that controlled growth is important. “But we’re always looking for new opportunities or new services that we can add for our customers.” 

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