History

John J. Aertker, Jr. founded his electrical manufacturer's representative business in 1961. Mr. Aertker was a 1940 electrical engineering graduate of L. S. U. who worked for New Orleans Public Service, Inc. until the attack on Pearl Harbor.

After military service in the Second World War, Mr. Aertker joined Lighting Fixture and Electric Supply Company as a utility sales engineer in late 1945. He worked his way to Vice President of Sales in 1953 and served in that capacity until beginning his own representation company with two lines - Milbank Manufacturing Company and White Rubber Company.

The Aertker Company's territory was the State of Louisiana and the Southern half of Mississippi. Employees were added and a second office was opened in Lafayette, Louisiana in 1965.

John J. "Jack" Aertker, III received his electrical engineering degree from L. S. U. in 1968 and after a year with the Boeing Company began working for the Aertker Company in 1969 in Lafayette. Jack opened the Baton Rouge office in 1972 and ran it until 1976 when John, Jr. became ill. At that time, Jack closed both the Baton Rouge and Lafayette offices and moved the company headquarters to its present location in Kenner, Louisiana.

Stephen C. Aertker received his electrical engineering degree from U. S. L. in 1970. He worked for Louisiana Power & Light for three years as a field engineer before coming to work for the Aertker Company.  Steve opened an office in Jackson, Mississippi and covered Mississippi Power & Light and all the R. E. A.'s in Southern Mississippi.

Erick L. Aertker graduated from U. S. L. in 1973 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Math. He worked for the Middle South Utilities Company (now Entergy) as a computer programmer before joining the Aertker Company in 1976.

Steve Aertker formed his own agency in 1989 when he was offered the opportunity to represent ABB to the industrial-contractor market in Louisiana and Southern Mississippi.

Middle South Utilities was the holding company for Louisiana Power & Light, New Orleans Public Service, Arkansas Power & Light, and Mississippi Power and Light. It allowed each of these utilities to operate autonomously. However, times were changing. Gulf States Utilities Company was purchased by Middle South Utilities in the early 90's and the new holding company became Entergy - for enterprise, energy, and synergy.

The Aertker Company chose to conform to this new environment by opening an office in Little Rock, Arkansas. We were fortunate to hire Mr. Darrell Hawthorne to run this branch office. Darrell had worked for AP&L for thirty-two (32) years - the last twelve as a purchasing agent.

In 1995, the Aertker Company acquired the R. M. Archibald agency, which had offices in Jackson, MS and Memphis, TN. Our new territory was Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Western Tennessee and the East Texas properties of Gulf States Utilities.

E. C. Aertker received his degree in electrical engineering from Christian Brothers University (Memphis, TN) in May 2000.  He began working with the Aertker Company in July of 2000. E.C. successfully completed the requirements to earn the designation of Certified Professional Manufacturers Representative (CPMR) in 2011.

Scott Aertker received his degree in marketing form Christian Brothers University (Memphis, TN) in May 2002.  Prior to working with the Aertker Company, Scott was the Business Development Manager for ASI Credit Union.  Scott joined the Aertker Company in 2004.

As the electric utility industry transitions from a regulated to de-regulated state, the Aertker Company has been flexible and adjusted to better serve our manufacturers.

Today, Erick covers the Entergy headquarters in New Orleans. He coordinates all strategy and procedures for this large, complex, and diverse customer. E.C. focuses on the Transmission and Substation aspects of the business.  Scott coordinates the Aertker Company strategy for business through distributors. 

The John J. Aertker, Jr., Co., Inc. has seven (7) employees and three (3) offices. The Kenner headquarters has 2,500 square feet of office space and 9,600 square feet of warehouse with a truck well.

We are well staffed and positioned to grow as a leading manufacturers' representative company in the electric industry.