Page 16 - 2022 Chester County Guide & CCCBI Membership Directory

LOYAL MEMBERS
CHESTER COUNTY CHAMBER
2 Executives Reflect on Their Long Involvement with CCCBI
The Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry (CCCBI) has many long-term members, including a handful that have been around for its entire 30-year history. Two of those members share ways their companies have grown, and how CCCBI has helped that process.
DALE KRAPF, CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD, THE KRAPF GROUP
The Krapf Group is a mainstay in Chester County’s business community, having been established in 1942 by George Krapf Jr. to provide student transportation for local municipalities.
The company joined the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry right around the time of the Chamber’s founding in the early 1990s, and Dale Krapf has been closely involved with the Chamber since then. He even served as Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors from 1997 to 1999 (see related story on page 10).
Krapf represents the second generation of the company’s family ownership, being the son of the original founder. But current leadership also includes third- and fourth-generation members, such as President and CEO Blake Krapf and Executive VP Bradley D. Krapf.
Over the past decades, The Krapf Group has grown significantly, Dale Krapf said. In the early ‘90s, “I believe we were running about 400, maybe 500 buses in Pennsylvania. Pre-pandemic, we were running 2,800 buses and operating in four states.”
The company’s service lines also have expanded: in addition to student transportation, The Krapf Group now provides public and paratransit transportation as well as motorcoach services.
Involvement with the Chamber, Krapf said, helped the company’s local name recognition. “We were dealing with the political side of the county through the Chamber — the County Commissioners, our elected state and federal representatives. And quite frankly, I got to be on a first-name basis with them.”
In addition, Krapf believes that being part of the Chamber “helped me grow professionally — it allowed me to spend time around some very successful entrepreneurs and owners of other family businesses.”
DAVID MOSER, CEO, DFT INC.
Like Dale Krapf, David Moser has been involved with the Chamber since the time of its founding — in fact, he served on the Steering Committee that helped establish the Chamber and was Chairman of the Chamber’s Board of Directors in the early 2000s. His company, Lionville-based DFT, is a manufacturer of industrial valves and pump components with worldwide sales.
Since the Chamber’s founding, DFT “has evolved through organic growth,” Moser said. “We’ve developed new products and new markets, particularly internationally.”
While DFT doesn’t do much business locally in Chester County,
it still benefited from Chamber membership. “Being part of the Chamber has helped us with our supplier relationships, particularly in services, and it certainly helped us network with the business community.”
Another benefit lay in recruitment because being part of CCCBI “raised our profile as a company in the county, and when we’re recruiting for employees — as we seem to be doing nonstop these days — it helps people recognize our name.”
The Chamber’s advocacy for pro-business issues also has been helpful, Moser said. “What immediately comes to mind is the recent reduction in the corporate net income tax rate, which is an issue that was supported and encouraged by the Chamber for many years.”
14 Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry