Design Build Fire Protection of WI started in 2000 by Scott Beres out of his basement and has grown to what he calls is a mid-sized company doing work throughout Wisconsin and Upper Illinois. Scott started in the business after earning his associates degree in fire protection engineering from Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. He then went to work as a design engineer for a fire protection systems firms. Two years later, he joined a fire protection contractor in New Berlin and worked his way up from designer to estimator to sales and finally sales manager. In 2000 he took and passed his Wisconsin contractor’s license and started the company soon after. He was joined by Sherry Carlson who helped him develop the company into what it is today.

Design Build Fire Protection went from a basement start-up to nearly 50 employees. In 2020, Design Build was acquired by Ryan Fire Protection giving them a local presence to serve customers and contractors in the Greater Milwaukee area and Chicagoland. Their in-house, full-service design and fabrication capabilities allow them to create fire systems for any type and size of facility. Ryan decided to keep the Design Build name because of their reputation in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Scott and Sherry are still an important part of the Ryan/Design Build team. Scott has been active in NFSA since joining in 2010. He currently serves as the VP of the NFSA WI Chapter and also a member of the Milwaukee 183 IP committee. Sherry has been an active member of NFSA and currently sits on the Burn Center Golf Invitational committee. She also sits as a member of the Wisconsin and Milwaukee Apprenticeship committee as a contractor representative. She was awarded the MATC Civic Apprenticeship Award in 2016.

Design Build has been active in the community with sponsorships to the Burn Center Golf Invitational benefitting ACSM Burn Unit and Wi Youth Burn Camp. They have volunteered their time, talent and supplies to install residential fire sprinkler systems in multiple Habitat for Humanity Homes.

For More information, on Design Build Fire Protection of Wisconsin, visit their site.