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Company · acquired by Cobalt Service Partners

Flores Technical Services

Founded 1998 in Dallas by George Flores and Clark Thompson; led by David Schmitz from 2001 · 1 branch (Dallas) · sold to Cobalt, Jan 2025

Two Texas Instruments security men started it; the man they hired in 2001 built it into North Texas's school-and-defense integrator

Page as of Sept 28, 2026The sale ↓

Legacy

The founder’s story · from the public record

Flores Technical Services grew out of Texas Instruments. George Flores and Clark Thompson had spent their careers there installing security systems and providing executive protection, and in 1998 they set up on their own in Dallas to do the same work for other companies. David Schmitz, Founding Story (Cobalt company page) · Cobalt announcement, Mar 10, 2025

Wanting to grow, the founders brought in new people, among them David Schmitz in 2001. His brief, as he describes it, was to diversify both the customer base and the security offerings. It 'took some time', but over two decades FTS came to manage security for several large North Texas school districts, healthcare providers, Department of Defense contractors and semiconductor manufacturers. He credits that 'solely' to a team of employees 'that have dedicated themselves to our customers and each other'. David Schmitz, Founding Story (Cobalt company page) · Cobalt announcement

The company's model is to keep everything in-house: its own technicians design, install and maintain access control, video surveillance and network-integrated systems, which it says guarantees precision, on-time completion and quality control for high-profile clients who want one point of contact. Its careers page pitches 'a personal touch and quality that many of our national competitors cannot replicate' with 'the agility of a small company'. An Allen ISD customer describes a leadership team that 'sets the tone with clear, consistent communication'. Cobalt FTS: About · Greenhouse job board · Cobalt FTS: Testimonials

When Cobalt approached him in summer 2024, Schmitz says he had 'zero intention of selling'; the business was in the middle of exceptional growth. But the growing pain that came with it was finding enough talent to hold the company's standards, and after continued conversations he concluded Cobalt brought resources 'that exceeded a solo effort'. Getting to know Anthony Gonzalez, Jose Emanuelli and 'the two Tylers', he found their culture and integrity aligned with his own, which he calls non-negotiable, and describes the diligence as professional enough that both sides got 'a fair and transparent deal'. He stayed on as special advisor, handing day-to-day responsibilities to long-time operations manager Rocky Garner and the Cobalt team, and warned, with a marriage metaphor, that there would be challenges. David Schmitz, Why Cobalt (Cobalt company page) · Cobalt announcement, Mar 10, 2025

The team

The people who built it

Neither the rebuilt Cobalt FTS site nor Cobalt's page carries a team page or headshots. Publicly named people are founders George Flores and Clark Thompson, owner David Schmitz, operations manager Rocky Garner, and post-sale CEO Ryan Goard.

FTS service fleet on Cobalt's company page
FTS service fleet on Cobalt's company page · source
Image on the Cobalt FTS About page
Image on the Cobalt FTS About page · source

In the community

What they gave back · on the record
  • FTS's public identity is built around securing schools: it manages access control for large North Texas districts, and Allen ISD's testimonial praises its leadership and technicians. Its rebuilt site adds weapons- and vape-detection pages aimed at campuses. Cobalt FTS: Testimonials · Cobalt FTS: Schools & Universities
  • The company serves Department of Defense contractors and healthcare providers, and its 2026 blog posts address defense-contractor security compliance and violence against healthcare workers. Cobalt FTS: Blog

In their words

4 public statements by the founder and team
  • 2025
    Founding Story / Why Cobalt (FTS page) post
    David Schmitz · cobaltsp.com (Our Companies) · David Schmitz's first-person account: the founders' Texas Instruments background, his 2001 arrival with a brief to diversify, the school, healthcare, DoD and semiconductor customer base, and the team he credits; then Cobalt's summer-2024 approach when he had 'zero intention of selling', the talent bottleneck, the culture-and-integrity test, the diligence process and his 'no marriage is ever perfect' caution. Signed 'Owner (2001 – 2025)'.
  • 2025-03-10
    Cobalt Acquires Flores Technical Services press
    David Schmitz; Anthony Gonzalez · cobaltsp.com (News & Insights) · Buyer's announcement of its 12th acquisition and first of 2025. Quotes Schmitz on the customer base and on Cobalt's culture and integrity being 'non-negotiable'; Anthony Gonzalez says Cobalt is 'honored Dave decided to partner'. Schmitz becomes special advisor; day-to-day passes to operations manager Rocky Garner and Cobalt staff.
  • undated
    Current openings at Flores Technical Services post
    Flores Technical Services · Greenhouse job board · Company description used for recruiting: founded 1998, 'exponential growth for the past 24-years', a personal touch national competitors cannot replicate, small-company agility. One open role (Install Technician, Dallas) in Sept 2026.
  • 2026
    About Us (Cobalt FTS) post
    Cobalt FTS · fts-dfw.com · Post-rebrand About page: 'premier security integrator' for DoD contractors, K-12 and higher education, healthcare and manufacturing; in-house technicians, no outsourcing; values of integrity, excellence, innovation, collaboration and trust.

Founder Q&A

In their own words · by email · published with permission

We’d like David Schmitz to tell this story in their own words. Ran this company, or built it alongside the founder? Ten questions by email, answered at your pace, published only with your OK.

The sale

As both sides told it · on the public record
Announced Mar 10, 2025 By Cobalt (own newsroom) Deal #12 for Cobalt Service Partners Founder left Cobalt, Mar 10, 2025
What Cobalt Service Partners said

Cobalt announced FTS on March 10, 2025 as its 12th acquisition and first of 2025. Co-CEO Anthony Gonzalez said Cobalt was 'honored Dave decided to partner with Cobalt' and that FTS 'does an exceptional job taking care of its customers and its people'. Cobalt's company page dates the acquisition to January 2025.

Announcement
What the founder said

David Schmitz said he had no intention of selling when Cobalt approached in summer 2024, but the challenge of hiring enough talent to keep standards, Cobalt's resources, and the alignment of culture and integrity he found in Gonzalez, Emanuelli and the two Tylers changed his mind. He called the diligence professional and the deal 'fair and transparent', stayed on as special advisor, and expects challenges that can be met 'when the people involved have integrity and are willing to listen'.

Source

Terms on the record: Nothing public. No price, structure, rollover or earn-out disclosed. Advisors: None named on either side.

What happened after

Public signals since the sale · dated
  • 2025-01
    Acquisition closes (Cobalt company page: 'Acquisition Date: January 2025'). source
  • 2025-03-10
    Cobalt announces the deal; Schmitz becomes special advisor; Rocky Garner and Cobalt staff take over day-to-day. source
  • 2025-06 to 2026-08
    Website rebuilt and rebranded as 'Cobalt FTS' (image uploads dated June 2025 onward; blog posts June to August 2026; footer '© 2026 Cobalt FTS, Inc.'; body text also says 'Cobalt FTS, LLC'). New service-area pages for Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Denton added August 2026. The site no longer mentions Flores, Thompson or Schmitz. source
  • 2026-09-28
    Cobalt's team page lists Ryan Goard as 'CEO, Flores Technical Services' under Partner Company Leadership (previously CEO of a Dallas-based startup through its acquisition; background in manufacturing and mechanical construction). No announcement of his appointment was found. source
  • 2026-09-28
    Greenhouse board (still branded Flores Technical Services) lists one opening, Install Technician in Dallas, under department 'Partner Company'. source

Then and now

Founder and leadership
David Schmitz
Owner and President (joined 2001; owner to 2025)
Left Special advisor at close (Mar 2025); no public update since. Search result shows LinkedIn title 'President at Flores Technical Services, Inc.' source
George Flores
Co-founder (1998), formerly Texas Instruments security
Now source
Clark Thompson
Co-founder (1998), formerly Texas Instruments security
Now source
Rocky Garner
Long-time Operations Manager
Stayed Took over day-to-day responsibilities at close (Mar 2025); ZoomInfo search result still lists him as Manager, Operations source
Ryan Goard
Now CEO, Flores Technical Services (Cobalt team page, Sept 2026) source

Companies Cobalt Service Partners also bought

20 on the public record

All 21 transactions →

Sources

Everything above, dated Sept 28, 2026

Unverified at publish: Whether Schmitz is still a special advisor (no update since Mar 2025); when Ryan Goard was appointed CEO and whether Rocky Garner remains; whether George Flores and Clark Thompson still had any role at the sale; the Texas DPS private-security licence number ('state-certified' claim only); headcount; entity form (site says both 'Inc.' and 'LLC'); no photo of any founder or of Schmitz on a permitted source; no local or trade press found.