Founder and CEO John Wierzgac and COO Nate Wierzgac look back at how in-building public safety communications has changed, and where WZC is headed next.
NOVI, Mich., Nov. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — There was no twenty-year roadmap when John Wierzgac started WZC Networking in 2006. There was one network engineer, three customers who trusted him, and a belief that good work should speak for itself. That belief became the foundation for two decades of growth, taking WZC from a one-person operation to a company that today designs, installs, and supports Wi-Fi, distributed antenna systems (DAS), Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement Systems (ERCES), security, and audiovisual systems.
John Wierzgac spent 16 years, from 1990 to 2006, as a network and wireless engineer at two other companies. “I felt the quality of the service product wasn’t acceptable,” Wierzgac said. “So in 2006 I chose to become an independent consultant.”
He did not leave empty-handed. Over the years he had built strong relationships with three loyal clients. Before he announced his departure, each one committed to giving him work during his startup period. Most of that early work was 802.11 Wi-Fi.
A customer need opened a new door
The move into public safety communications did not come from a business plan. It came from a customer. In early 2012, a client’s project pushed WZC into emergency responder communication systems, work that sat outside the Wi-Fi discipline and widened what the company could offer.
“Those projects surfaced through coincidence and growth beyond 802.11,” Wierzgac said. “We could provide new services that expanded our normal offerings.”
WZC completed its first ERCES project in 2014 for a national retail client, one of the three customers who backed Wierzgac at the start. “ERCES was new to everyone then: the codes, the inspectors, the integrators. We were in it from the start,” he said. ERCES is the term for the in-building systems that keep radio signals strong enough for firefighters and other first responders to communicate effectively inside a structure.
A market that now speaks the same language
Wierzgac noted that the biggest change since 2014 has been familiarity. Fire marshals, building inspectors, and contractors all know the term ERCES today, and more jurisdictions are adopting the standards behind it, anchored by IFC Section 510 and NFPA 1225. “That adoption is creating a stronger market,” he explained.
Twenty years after he went out on his own, Wierzgac knows exactly what he is proudest of. “I built something from nothing,” he said. “I work with both of my sons every day, and I am leaving behind a good, solid company for them to build on. It’s a family legacy.”
It started with one consultant and three promises. Today it has two generations working side by side.
The next chapter: staying after the install
One of those sons, Nate Wierzgac, now serves as WZC’s COO. He stepped into leadership by first learning how the company ran before changing it. With a background in sales and operations rather than RF engineering, he sees his role as ensuring WZC’s RF and public safety communications specialists lead the technical work while he removes obstacles from their path.
For most of its history, WZC did what most integrators do: install a system, hand it over at commissioning, and move on. Nate’s biggest change was making WZC stay. Nate saw what happened a year or two later. “Tenants move in, walls go up, codes change, and nobody owns the annual ERCES test,” he said. “Systems that were designed right slowly drift out of spec, and the owner usually finds out at the worst possible time.”
WZC responded by building the people and processes to support what it installs. Its in-house team now runs the annual ERCES test and tracks code changes so each system stays compliant with the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). It also monitors systems from its network operations center in Novi and sends field technicians to troubleshoot and repair them. “If we built it, we own how it performs, and we have a team and a process to back that up,” Nate said.
The track record backs the promise. WZC has delivered more than 500 network projects and reports 95% client retention over three years.
Three gaps worth closing
Nate sees three gaps in the industry, and WZC is putting its energy into each one. The first sits between Wi-Fi and cellular. “Most buildings treat them as two separate worlds handled by two separate vendors, and neither one sees the whole RF picture,” he said. “The result is coverage gaps, interference, and money spent twice.”
The second gap is public safety communications. Nate said more jurisdictions are adopting and enforcing ERCES requirements each year, yet many building owners do not learn they are responsible until a fire marshal tells them. “Then it is a scramble,” Nate said. “There is a real need for someone who can design it right, get it through the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), and keep it compliant year after year.”
The third gap is design. When a project skips a proper survey and engineering phase, the whole project team pays for it later in change orders and rework. “Investing in comprehensive ERCES testing and engineering prior to construction helps uncover potential issues such as inadequate donor signal levels, excessive cable losses, building attenuation, and poor in-building coverage. Addressing these factors during the design phase allows corrections to be made on paper rather than in the field, avoiding expensive system modifications, construction delays, and change orders while ensuring reliable communications for first responders,” said Pete Dehr, Public Safety Communications Expert at WZC.
Where WZC is headed
“You will see our work start earlier and last longer,” Nate said. “Earlier means survey and design engineering before anyone orders equipment. Longer means testing, monitoring, and managed services that keep systems performing after installation. We will also be working more directly with building owners and operators, alongside the contractors we partner with. The people who live with these systems every day should have a direct line to the people responsible for them.”
Nate mentioned the approach comes down to a plain promise for each group. General contractors and electrical contractors can expect WZC to arrive with engineering done and field leads on site, so no one has to chase answers. First responders can expect systems that work when they need them most.
“When a firefighter keys up a radio in a stairwell or a basement, that signal has to get through,” Nate said. “Every ERCES system we design and test is built with that moment in mind. It is the part of our work I am proudest of.”
About WZC Networking
WZC Networking is an RF engineering and technology integration firm founded in 2006 and headquartered in Novi, Michigan, with regional offices in Atlanta, Dallas, and Salt Lake City. It tests, monitors, and maintains the in-building systems it designs and installs, including annual testing of Emergency Responder Communication Enhancement Systems (ERCES), compliance management, and managed services for multi-site clients across the United States. Its work covers ERCES, public safety and cellular distributed antenna systems (DAS), structured cabling, Wi-Fi, security and CCTV, and audiovisual systems.
Learn more at https://www.wzcnetworking.com
SOURCE WZC Networking
