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Executive Q&A: IT franchise chief bucks retirement to open successful venture [The Oklahoman, Oklahoma City](Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sept. 22--Davis Merrey, owner and president of TeamLogic IT of Oklahoma City, says he failed at retirement -- twice. In 2000, Merrey -- who worked for years in the professional sound systems business and holds two U.S. patents for digital sound system design -- retired to care for his aging parents. But eight months later, he was called out of retirement to serve a second stint as president of Altec Lansing. Merrey "retired" again in 2005, only to open an Oklahoma City franchise of the Mission Viejo, Calif.-based TeamLogic IT in 2007. The company serves as an outsourced information technology department for some 120 firms throughout greater Oklahoma City, Ardmore, Tulsa, Perry and Lawton. "I always wanted to own my own business," Merrey, 73, said, "and I figured people will need information technology forever. It's a way to help clients and my fellow employees be successful." TeamLogic employs nine, including Merrey's wife, TeamLogic IT's co-owner and public relations specialist; his son, who works in sales, and daughter, who handles payroll and billing. His children, who are in their 40s, are the employees closest to his age, but Merrey said he doesn't mind. "Being around a lot of young, smart people is always fun," he said. From his offices at 5909 NW Expressway, Merrey sat down recently with The Oklahoman to talk about his life and career. This is an edited transcript: Q: Tell us about your roots. A: I was born in Roanoke, Va., and have two sisters, five and 10 years younger. Our mother was an elementary school teacher and father, plant manager for Continental Can Co., for which he worked his entire career. We moved around a lot, which gave me comfort in moving. Growing up, my passion was baseball. When I was 12, 13 and 14 and we lived outside Houston, my friends and I, in the summers, would jump on our bikes first thing and seek out pickup games; sometimes we'd play three a day. Later, I won a partial baseball scholarship to Virginia Military Institute, where I played shortstop and third base, and earned a degree in electrical engineering. Today, my team is the Detroit Tigers. Q: How did you meet your wife? A: Her mom worked for me on my first job out of college. I worked as a quality control manager for a manufacturing facility in Greenwood, Miss., and Barbara's mother was a chief inspection officer. Sadly, her mom was killed in a car accident two days before Christmas one year. Barbara, who was in the car with her mother, sustained several broken bones and I visited her in the hospital. When I left, I told her to let me know if she needed anything. And as I was walking out of her hospital room, she said "Wait, I don't have your phone number." I played bass and sang in a band then, and our band played at several of Barbara's school functions. She was a cheerleader and in charge of arranging the parties after the football games. We married after she graduated high school, and have been together ever since. Q: You hold an MBA. When did you pursue it? A: I started right after I married, but it took me seven years to graduate. For my job, we moved to Oakland, Calif., and, while Barbara took day classes at the junior college, I started taking night classes at Golden State University. I continued night classes at the University of South Carolina and East Tennessee State University, before finishing up at Golden State. With our different moves, I lost quite a bit of course credit. But I was determined to take at least one class a semester, so as not to lose momentum. Q: Where did you live, and what were your favorite places? A: From Oakland, we moved to Bristol, Va. to Columbia, S.C., where our children were born, to Palo Alto, Calif., to Kansas City to Knoxville, Tenn. to Seattle, Wash. to Granger, Ind. (I worked in Buchanan, Mich.) to Oklahoma City to England for three years and then back to Oklahoma City. We're living in our 15th house. Favorites were Kansas City, probably because of the time of life -- our kids were pre-teens, and Knoxville, where we lived at the foot of the Smoky Mountains. I also enjoyed the energy and work ethic of the some 300 employees I managed in England. While we were there, we had the opportunity to visit Ireland and Scotland. Q: Your staff recently did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, simultaneously dumping buckets of ice water over your heads as a team. What was your motivation? A: One of our employees, Levi Lawson, approached me about it. He told me the challenge had gone viral on social networks and that it was for a great cause -- raising awareness and research dollars for the neurodegenerative disease ALS. We did it just behind the Weokie building here. Home Depot donated the buckets and Lumpy's Sports Bar downstairs, the ice. It was great fun and after it was over, Levi thanked me for having a company culture in which he could suggest such things. His words really touched me. When I went home that day, I felt like it'd been a good day. ___ (c)2014 The Oklahoman Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |