March 30, 2021

Happy Birthday, Test Equipment Distributors!

When a family business celebrates its 50th birthday, that is a great milestone to celebrate. And if this milestone falls in the Corona period of all times, then you think the celebration will be canceled. TED, Test Equipment Distributors, our partner in the USA, thought nothing of that. Our colleagues and friends celebrated their anniversary with a big and successful online party and we, RHF, were there live – and online, too. What fun!

Based on the founding decade, the company anniversary of Test Equipment Distributors (TED) was under the motto “The 70ties”. Current employees, former employees, the Thams founding family, company executives and business partners met online to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary – and almost all of them came in the right outfit from the 1970s.

TED is Reilhofer KG‘s sales and service partner in the USA. We have been working successfully with TED for over 20 years (see newsroom article „Reilhofer’s 20th anniversary in the USA with TED“). The company’s core business is sales and service related to non-destructive testing in various industries around the world. NVH is just one of them that TED looks after with and for us on the American market. And so we were looking forward to the Zoom Party at the end of March 2021.

What a beautiful screen mosaic was presented to all participants! There were disco balls as wallpaper, lots of large glasses, long hair and varied, colorful outfits. Right at the beginning there was a greeting from the Mayor of Troy, the place where the company is headquartered. Ethan Baker was there live at the Zoom party, wearing a business suit. The “wrong outfit” made him laugh himself, which all participants agreed to. From the beginning it was a relaxed, very personal and happy atmosphere. Then the current TED President Mike Hamel and a few colleagues spoke before cocktails were mixed online.

It was honorable when Scott Thams spoke. Sitting next to him on the sofa at home was his mother and father, the founder of the company. Dick Thams built this companies. Test Equipment Distributors is a family business that is still family owned today. And so Scott said, who was in charge of the company for many years after his father: “This company is absolutely a family. All the employees have been family to me.” He looked back on all the years and was delighted with the success: “We enjoyed the ride, because it was an amazing ride.”

From RHF’s part, Head of Global Sales Andreas Mathiak took part in the celebration. He is the main contact for TED and its customers when it comes to diagnostic systems for the powertrain in the automotive industry. The current President Mike Hamel greeted by name and added with a laugh, “Andreas, I don’t really know, but it must be late in Germany now.” Yes, it was already 11:55 pm at the time. But who looks at the clock at a good party?

Many more stories from the 50 years were told, people laughed and glasses were clinked virtually. It’s nice when people celebrate together in these special times. Mike Hamel then thanked all party participants: “It was great to see you all and to catch up with you. You all helped make that great night for TED and we are looking forward to getting together in person sometime, soon. “- Oh yes, we do!