Inacom Merges With Core BTS

According to Inacom President and COO Frank Albi in a letter to customers, the move will provide Inacom with a renewed business framework in support of three primary goals: "providing continued excellence in the customer experience, preserving our corporate values and care for employees, and sustaining a clear focus to allow for continued healthy growth going forward."

Albi has been named COO of the merged entity, which carries the Core BTS name and will remain a privately-held company. Albi's new role will include operational oversight of the company's 10 branches, according to a statement.

Don Eckrod, CEO of Core BTS, in a statement pointed to Inacom's long-standing relationships with vendors such as Cisco Systems, EMC, Microsoft and VMware in the Midwest region. Core BTS was a $100 million company before the merger.

"This acquisition is our largest region in terms of revenue, resulting from the very deep and longstanding relationships that Inacom has developed with its customers," Eckrod said.

For 25 years, Inacom offered end-to-end technology solutions to businesses, educational and government institutions throughout Wisconsin. It provides consulting, planning, design, and implementation of client/server-based technology solutions from desktop to data center.

As of July 13, the Inacom took on the Core BTS name, although the Inacom Learning unit will not be renamed, because of its brand recognition within the marketplace. "Core BTS values the Inacom Learning solutions as a key differentiator of our organization and an important value-add to our customers," Albi said in the letter.

So far, few changes have been announced. The merged company will have 340 employees among 10 offices located in six states. Inacom's senior leadership will join the team of Core BTS: In addition to Albi, Bryan Bechtoldt will remain as CTO; and Teri Bruns will be vice president of sales for the Midwest. In his letter, Albi noted he would focus on developing and executing a growth initiative for the merged solution provider.