Tad Skylar Agoglia

Tad Skylar Agoglia (born May 22, 1976) is an American entrepreneur and humanitarian. He is the chairman and founder of The First Response Team of America, a nonprofit organization providing immediate disaster relief and recovery services to communities using specialized heavy equipment and a travelling crew of highly trained responders.

Early life

Agoglia was born in Queens, New York and grew up in Huntington, New York. Agoglia first started working at age 12, pumping gas. He was a successful entrepreneur by the time he was in high school, building various businesses in landscaping, snow plowing, Christmas tree farming, and contracting. He is of Italian descent through his father.

Career Prior to creating the First Response Team of America, Agoglia owned and operated an excavation and crane company.His for-profit company, Disaster Recovery Solutions LLC, performed debris removal work under contracts following large-scale disasters.

In May 2007, Agoglia and his crew were in the middle of a contracting job in Missouri when an EF-5 tornado leveled the town of Greensburg, Kansas, destroying 95% of the community.

He left Missouri with his equipment from his LLC, and started toward what was left of Greensburg. Greensburg's already limited resources were either destroyed or inaccessible to its firefighters and the town was in desperate need for Agoglia's uniquely specialized equipment. Fortuitously, Agoglia had brought the exact machinery needed to clear the roads of debris and power lines, and helping the firefighters access their firehouse and equipment. Agoglia spent weeks in Greensburg, assisting families to clear debris from their home sites. a pocket of wealth earned not solely from the LLC, but also first pennies earned since he started working at just 12 years old. Responding pro bono to 18 communities in those 2 years, for only the promise that one day, John and his sons could join Agoglia in a response.

In 2008, Agoglia was chosen as a CNN Top Ten Hero of the Year and featured as a People Magazine "Hero Among Us".

In 2010, Agoglia was presented with the Jefferson Award for Public Service and recognized in GQ Magazine in its Better Men Better World Search.

In 2015, Agoglia was awarded the Extraordinary Commitment of Service to the Community Award by the RUMI Forum of Washington, D.C.

First Response Team of America From its inception until presently (2015), the FRTA has responded to 84 communities in the US and to Haiti for the 2010 earthquake. The Team specializes in confined space search and rescue, swift water rescue, powering critical infrastructure, and quick-response debris removal.

The organization derived from Agoglia's previous business,