Electronic Theatre Controls
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Electronic Theatre Controls (ETC) is a privately held corporation with global headquarters in Middleton, Wisconsin, United States. An international manufacturer of entertainment and architectural lighting systems, ETC offers professional lighting fixtures, lighting control consoles, dimming equipment and power distribution components. Specific products include the Source Four line of lighting fixtures; the Selador Classic and Desire series of LED lighting fixtures; Element, Eos, Gio, Ion, Congo, Congo jr, Congo Kid, SmartFade, and SmartFade ML lighting control consoles; Sensor+ and SineWave dimming systems; Unison architectural-lighting control; and Smart Solutions lighting gear. ETC also manufactures the Transtechnik brand of dimming and control systems, studio automation systems, as well as IES Matrix dimming systems, used throughout Europe.
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[edit] History
In 1975, Bill Foster and his younger brother Fred founded ETC while students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Bill was the first president of ETC. Fred is the current chief executive officer. During its first decade, ETC established itself as a manufacturer of microprocessor-based lighting control consoles.
By 1990, ETC had acquired Lighting Methods, Inc. (LMI), a Rochester, New York-based manufacturer of entertainment dimming systems. Soon, ETC became one of the largest fully integrated entertainment lighting control manufacturers in North America, with offices in Middleton, WI; Orlando, FL; Rochester, NY; and Hollywood, CA.
In 1995, the company grew again when ETC acquired the lighting control division of London-based distributor ARRI GB. Also that year, ETC opened an office in Hong Kong, extending its expansion into Asia. In 1997, ETC opened an office in Copenhagen, Denmark, to serve the Northern European market, and a year later opened an office in Rome, allowing greater access to Southern Europe.
ETC acquired Transtechnik Lichtsysteme, Holzkirchen, Germany, in 2002, widening ETC’s market share in Europe. Continuing its growth, ETC took an equity position in Avab France in 2003. In 2004, ETC acquired Dutch sine wave-dimming manufacturer IES as well as its industrial weighing and measuring division Penko Engineering BV, both located in Veenendaal, the Netherlands.
In March, 2005, all formerly separate operations of ETC in Europe joined under the common corporate banner of ETC. ETC’s headquarters, located in Middleton, WI (near the state capital Madison) serves as the hub of global administration and manufacturing.
In February 2009 ETC acquired the Selador product line, an innovative LED performance set of lighting fixtures based on X7 technology.[1]
[edit] Executives
- Fred Foster, Chief Executive Officer
- Dick Titus, President
- Matthew Brookfield, General Manager, ETC Ltd.
- Wynne Cheung, General Manager, ETC Asia
- Julie Cymbalak, VP, Human Resources and IT
- Sarah Danke, VP, Professional Services
- Steve Downs, VP, Quality and International Operations
- Bill Gallinghouse, VP, Business Development and Marketing
- Bill McGivern, VP, Manufacturing
- Philipp Schaeffer, General Manager, ETC GmbH
- Pekka Sundstedt, General Manager, Penko
- Steve Terry, VP, Research & Development
- Mark Vassallo, VP, World Sales
- Mark Veldey, VP, Finance
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.etcconnect.com/news.aspx?id=20228 - ETC press release about the Selador takeover
