Events

ESL Announces New President

Erika Thorson

Press ReleaseCORONA, California, September 24, 2020 – ESL Power Systems, Inc is pleased to announce the appointment of Marcelo Gonzalez as President. Michael Hellmers, who has been President of ESL for nearly 20 years, will continue to be engaged in the business and advance into the position of Chief Sales Strategist and Chairman of the Board.

Recently transitioned to a 100% employee-owned company through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), ESL is primed to tackle exciting challenges and opportunities as we emerge from Covid-19. Marcelo’s appointment is a clear reflection of ESL’s strategic vision as he is enthusiastic to accelerate ESL’s growth.

Marcelo Gonzalez , President - ESL Power Systems, Inc.
Marcelo Gonzalez

Marcelo’s key professional attributes include leading international organizations to double-digit growth, developing teams through coaching, and setting clear strategies while aligning teams to achieve a bold vision.

Marcelo holds a Mechanical Engineering degree as well as an MBA. Originally from Argentina, he has lived in several countries while holding key executive positions at Cavotec, based in  Switzerland, where he worked for almost 18 years. His last professional challenge was leading the international operations at DART Aerospace.

Marcelo will continue to build the organizational success of ESL, working hand in hand with Michael and David Helmers during the transition.

“I am very excited to be joining ESL,” Marcelo said, “I believe this is a tremendous opportunity to contribute in the continued growth of an organization that already has a great business model and a talented management team. We are well-positioned to bring ESL to a new level of performance and excellence.”

“Marcelo is the right new leader to drive ESL to the next level,” said Michael Hellmers. “There is enormous opportunity ahead, and we couldn’t be happier with Marcelo joining our team to lead ESL and our customers to mutual success.”

About ESL Power Systems, Inc.

A 100% employee owned company, ESL Power Systems, Inc. is an innovative global leader in the design and manufacturing of cord-connected electrical equipment for industrial and commercial applications and is also the premier custom control panel builder in Southern California.

Media Contact:
Erika Thorson
ESL Power Systems, Inc.
2800 Palisades Dr.
Corona, CA 92878
+1 (951) 739-7000
ethorson@eslpwr.com
https://eslpwr.com

ESL Power Systems, Inc. Becomes 100% Employee-Owned Through Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

Erika Thorson

ESL Becomes Employee Owned

After 28 years of expansion and growth, ESL Power Systems opens its next chapter

CORONA, CALIFORNIA:  ESL Power Systems, Inc. has completed a transaction to become 100% employee-owned through its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  Since its inception in the early 1990’s, ESL Power Systems has emerged as an innovative leader in the design and manufacturing of safety-interlocked electrical solutions.  The Company has been owned and managed by Michael Hellmers and David Hellmers, with Douglas Roy, Carlos Valero, Pete Mehalechko, John Chaney, Jaime Hatzfeld, Tom Zinchuk and Greg Leger rounding out the management team.

ESL ESOP Group Photo

 

According to Michael Hellmers, President, “ESL employees have always been the cornerstone of our company’s success.  Our team embodies ESL’s core values and share David’s and my commitment to our business and stakeholders.  Employee ownership is the next logical step to ensure the legacy of our founders carries on.  David and I will continue to lead the ESL team and are confident the new structure will foster an ownership culture focused on growth and customer satisfaction.”

ESL Power Systems was advised by AmbroseAdvisors, a national investment banking firm specialized in employee-ownership transitions.  Michael Harden, Senior Managing Director, stated “Michael and David’s goal was to secure a sustainable future for the Company in a way that would be highly beneficial to the employees, customers, suppliers, and the community in addition to themselves.  Employee ownership, done right, benefits all stakeholders and should be celebrated.  We heartily congratulate the ESL team and thank them for trusting AmbroseAdvisors to manage this transition process.”

About:

ESL Power Systems, Inc.  is a leading electrical equipment manufacturer for industrial and commercial applications for a variety of industries.

About: AmbroseAdvisors is a national middle-market investment bank and financial advisory firm focused on guiding and assisting business owners with ownership succession planning, primarily through employee ownership.  http://www.AmbroseAdvisors.com

 

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For a formal press release click here.

New Product Announcement – eTRUconnect­™

Erika Thorson

Truck-trailer shore power

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our product solutions, Truck-Trailer Shore Power. ESL’s eTRUconnect™ provides safe utility shore power to electric or hybrid refrigerated units on truck trailers, eliminating emissions while loading/unloading or idle. Connecting electric or hybrid refrigerated units to shore power eliminates the need of running on board diesel generators/engines to keep the cargo within the optimal temperature range. This results in significant savings attributed to much lower electric energy cost. eTRUconnect’s, safe and simple connection and disconnection procedure allows truck drivers to use the system while minimizing the risk of injury. ESL’s eTRUconnect is the ideal solution for distribution centers, warehouses and truck stops. Learn more about eTRUconnect here!

ESL Treasures Continuous Improvement – Join the Hunt!

Erika Thorson

ESL Continious Improvement Treasure Hunt

In an effort to expand our continuous improvement strategies, ESL initiated a new employee participation program appropriately named the “Treasure Hunt.” Employee volunteers work in teams of 3 with the goal of finding quick fixes for common problems throughout our organization. Basically, do a lot with a little!

This new program allows employees to venture throughout our company putting “fresh eyes” on different areas of the business. For 4 hours, the teams consisting of both office and shop floor personnel  walk around the production floor, office, and surrounding building speaking to fellow coworkers from various areas and brainstorming solutions. Some team members already have ideas for improvements going into the Treasure Hunt. Other teams discover improvement ideas while investigating various departments and workflows. The idea is to spend as little money as possible and fix discovered problems with materials on hand.

Once problems and solutions are identified, our Treasure Hunt volunteers present their recommendations to a small board of executives at ESL. Once solutions are approved, the groups are then given the green light to make the updates.  At this point, the teams are contending for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes (Treasure!) based on successful implementation. Below are some examples of problems solved:

Team Problem Solvers: Discovered a few loose safety pins in the inventory racks. This resulted in a simple solution to add bolts, washers and nylok nuts to ensure the racks are more secure.

Team Goon Squad: Discovered that we can use an out of use wire stripping machine for our standard cables. Our current method of hand stripping took 25 seconds per cable. With the wire stripping machine, we can strip the same cable in 10 seconds. Overall, employees will be stripping hundreds of wires more safely and efficiently!

Team Pirates of Palisades: With an increase in production, floor space has become limited. This team suggested implementing new racks with a loft design. The idea of the loft is that it will not impede the current work space and we can now use the rack space above it to hold additional inventory.

ESL Treasure Hunt Participants

Because of the overwhelming response and excitement generated by this event, ESL has put this program on quarterly rotation to help continuously improve our work place! What does your company do to get the team involved in continuous improvements? We’d love to hear new ideas!