January 11, 2021
Electronic Support Systems (ESS) is pleased to announce the retirement of Ted Meyer. After 35 years in the Data Center industry he has decided it is time to spend more time with his growing family. He and Linda have been blessed with three sons, three lovely daughters-in-law, two grandsons, two granddogs, and four grandcats. They are planning to travel, spend more time with family, and enjoy Table Rock Lake.
In 1986, Ted started working for Electronic Support Products (ESP), an off-shoot of RJI, where he primarily represented Emerson’s uninterruptible power supply products. After Emerson acquired Liebert Corporation, they terminated ESP as their manufacturer’s representative due an existing representative relationship in the St. Louis area. A new company was then formed in 1992 with Ted Meyer, Ray Moore, and Rollie Johnson as the principles for ESS. That same year the ESS team acquired the right to exclusively represent the Liebert line in the St. Louis area.
In November of 2016, Emerson sold the Liebert line, then known as Emerson Network Power (ENP), to a venture capital firm which has since been rebranded as Vertiv, a publicly traded company. Rob Johnson, the son of Rollie Johnson, is Vertiv’s current CEO.
The new owner of Electronic Support Systems is David Zimmerman. Dave is also the President of Rollie Johnson, Inc. (RJI), a manufacturer’s representative company focused on commercial and industrial HVAC applications. He started with RJI in 1992 and has maintained sales relationships and provided leadership for the company over those 28 years.
The move to the new ownership of ESS will be smooth with the current business relationships and staff all remaining intact. Meyer will also be employed as an advisor to ensure this successful transition.
The connected history between the two companies, ESS and RJI, has now come full circle after being apart for 28 years. The synergy of the companies will not only provide a larger footprint in the St. Louis construction market and surrounding area but will offer a greater array of products and services to ultimately provide better engineered solutions to the customer.
Ted wants to thank everyone for their support of Electronic Support Systems over the years and believes this transition will be seamless to its customers, partners, and manufacturers as Dave takes over the lead position.