IES Regional Manager & Fellow Firefighters Support Special Summer Camp

In addition to leading branch offices in Shreveport, Louisiana and Longview, Texas as a Regional Manager for Industrial Electronic Supply (IES), Jeff Larsen has been serving as an unpaid member of Fire District 3 as a firefighter since 1988. And, in 2006, Jeff joined a motorcycle club founded by and for firefighters - Brothers Keepers Motorcycle Club (BKMC), which was founded in Shreveport in 2003.

The club has been dedicated to supporting local and national charities from the beginning. In it's very first year, and as the very first chapter, the club raised a modest $450 and donated it to Camp I'm Still Me, a camp for young burn survivors. Since then, the club and their fundraising have grown immensely! The Shreveport chapter, which is now one of almost 50 chapters worldwide, has continued to raise money for the camp through it's Annual Burn Run. In 2024, they raised more than $110,000, bringing the total they've earned for the camp over the last 21 years to over $1,000,000!  

Volunteering with Special Olympics Brings Joy While Lifting Up Athletes 

At Industrial Electronic Supply (IES), we are always looking for those with a servant's heart when choosing individuals to join our team. We were fortunate to find that in Jeffrey Bishop who was selected to be the branch manager of our Oklahoma City office in 2022. In fact, it's having a servant's heart that Jeffrey said has led he and his wife Kelle to volunteer with Special Olympics every year since 2011. Both Jeffrey and Kelle had volunteered with the organization individually at different times while in high school and college. Jeffrey said it was in 2011, however, that he was inspired to begin working with the organization again when he encountered an acquaintance working with a Special Olympics athlete on weight lifting at his local YMCA in Edmond, Oklahoma.  

Awarded by Pepperl+Fuchs

Industrial Electronic Supply (IES) is honored to have received the prestigious Excellence in Distribution award for 2023 from Pepperl+Fuchs.  

IES is one of the elite group of only six U.S. distributors chosen to receive this award, which recognizes accomplishments in the following areas.

• Sales Excellence
• Fiscal Responsibility 
• Marketing & Promotional Activity
• Business Communications
• Commitment to Education

Cooking up Christmas Dinner for Community Fire Department for Almost 25 Years

With a culture of servant-based leadership, Industrial Electronic Supply (IES) takes pride in seeing the way so many of our team members serve not only our customers, but in their communities. IES even offers full time employees a paid day off to volunteer and support local programs. And many of them, like our Branch Manager in Little Rock, Steven Ratliff don't stop there. 

For almost 25 years, instead of just opening gifts and celebrating at home, Steven, along with his family, have spent Christmas Day serving food at their local fire department - providing a Christmas meal not only for the firefighters, but their families, too!

Commended for Commitment & Contributions

Steve Overlease was only 19 when he started his career with IES. Based in Shreveport, Louisiana, the company had moved from stocking radio, TV, and broadcast repair parts to industrial electronic equipment - largely at the request of a growing industrial customer base. As the company continued to evolve, by the late 1970s, IES had committed to expanding not only its product selection (from stocking MRO products, to selling and supporting high-tech electrical equipment) but also its geographic reach. In the 1980s, IES established new stocking locations in Louisiana, Texas, and Mississippi. Steve was tapped to help open the first of these new branches in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Mississippi River Adventure

A love for history and adventure inspired the Mississippi River adventures of Jeff Larsen, who is a regional manager for our Shreveport, Louisiana and Longview, Texas branches.  Part of the IES family since 1981, Jeff also serves as a Firefighter/EMT in Greenwood, Louisiana.  He has never shied away from adventure, or hard work - both of which were essential to his success - both on and off the river.

See below for a short video highlighting some of what went into his journeys, including a few of the photos taken along the way...

Customers Come Together to Serve Community

What we do at IES isn't just about the latest technologies and product solutions we get to deliver each day.  It's really about the people and the communities we get to serve.

We love our customers!  And we wanted to share a short story about a couple of our customers coming together to make a difference...

Warehouse Employee Delivers Supplies from Shreveport to Panama City

Ryan Stroud previously served in the Army and was still pretty new to his position with our Shreveport branch warehouse when Hurricane Michael hit. 

Living in Panama City, Ryan's in-laws thankfully didn't suffer major damage - but tens of thousands did.  So, Ryan used his day of service (a paid community service/stewardship day offered to every IES employee), and joined by his wife, took a long weekend to deliver supplies and offer assistance and deliver supplies that the IES team, who wanted to help out, rallied to gather.

See below for photos, and some of what Ryan encountered while in Panama City...

Business Excellence Award from Siemens

Industrial Electronic Supply (IES) was honored to accept the prestigious Business Excellence Award from our partners at Siemens for the seventh time.  The Bronze Eagle is only awarded to a select group of top distributors (less than 5% of those that are eligible) each year to recognize them for sales achievements, support capabilities, and overall commitment to business excellence.

Sheriff's Office Rescues New K-9 Recruit

A recent story about the Caddo Parish Sheriff's Office (CPSO) recruiting a rescue from the Humane Society to join its K-9 unit is not only a heartwarming story of a second chance for a Labrador retriever named Rougarou getting a new "leash" on life but a reminder that it pays to seek out innovative and sensible solutions.

According to the Caddo Sheriff’s Office, it currently has four other K-9s. All are dual-purpose dogs trained in narcotics and patrol work, and all are European imports purchased from U.S. K-9 vendors. They range in price from $11,000 for a single purpose dog to $15,500 for a dual-purpose dog. The cost of Rougarou? $0.

Product & Technology Showcase + Sporting Clay Shoot

This invitation-only event was set up to give many of our East Texas area customers a chance to meet with members of our team, as well as several of our key manufacturing partners who "showcased" some of their innovative new products and technologies.  

Those who attended not only had a chance to discover some of the latest solutions available but also got to network and learn from each other.

The event was held at Prairie Creek Ranch, where everyone also got the chance to join us for some clay shooting!