Manager of the year
› Who: Emerson E. Russell.› Company: ERMC (Emerson Russell Maintenance Co.)› Services: Security, maintenance, janitorial, landscaping services.› Background: Reared in Chattanooga, graduate of East Ridge High School, studied polygraphy at Texas A&M.› Quote: “What we do in life is to better the next guy. It’s not so much you as an individual but what you do to make life better for others.”› Event: 2016 Manager of the Year luncheon is June 8, 11:30 a.m. at the Convention Center. Contact Valerie Gifford at 634-3563 or valerie.gifford@tvfcu.com for reservations.
Emerson E. Russell oversees a business empire employing more than 5,000 people who work to provide security, maintenance, janitorial and landscaping services to facilities in 35 states.
Russell's entrepreneurial spirit started as a youth when he was hired by a neighbor to help salvage a demolished building and paid by the number of bricks he cleaned, he recalled last week.
"I could work at my own pace, and I could make what I made depending on how many hours I put in," said the founder and CEO of Chattanooga-based ERMC.
Russell has been named the 2016 Chattanooga Area Manager of the Year by a collection of business groups, citing his contributions to the Scenic City. His businesses employ 400 workers in Chattanooga, many of whom will share the honor when Russell is formally recognized June 8 as the area's 31st top manager at the Convention Center.
early riser
Russell, 69, said his day usually starts by 4:30 a.m. and he gets home by 11 p.m. That's a seven-day schedule except for Sunday when he goes to church and has lunch with family, he said.
"We have become a one-stop shop for customers and save them money," he said, noting ERMC is able to cluster services for the retail, aviation and office sectors. "We make more money because there's less management."
The Chattanooga businessman declined to provide annual company revenue figures, but he said business this year will be up a little over last despite spinning off a unit that sells uniforms.
His company, which traces its roots to 1972, is going though a strategic planning exercise now and is eyeing more diversification, Russell said.
"We're looking at the health care side of it and more government contracts," he said.
June Wilkerson, who handles accounts receivables for ERMC, said she has worked with Russell for about 30 years, calling him "the best boss anybody could have."
"I never thought of looking for another job," she said, adding that Russell "treats everybody the same."
Carolyn Stringer, who chairs the manager of the year event, said Russell is "a dedicated icon of the American free enterprise system."
"He is widely recognized for ethical management practices, efficient training for employees and creating jobs in Chattanooga and beyond," she said.
skilled youngster
The son of a Church of God minister and born in Fort Pierce, Fla., he grew up in Chattanooga and attended East Ridge High School. He worked at Mosteller's Garage on Main Street as a youngster, and by the time he was 12 he could rebuild an automatic transmission and motor, he said.
Russell was doing paint and body work within a few years and opened his own shop at about age 18, he said. Later, he started working with the police and went to Texas A&M where he studied polygraphy, or lie detection, doing work for the state and Hamilton County for a number of years.
career entree
ERMC had its earliest beginnings when a local company that was experiencing theft asked him to polygraph employees.
"I started with the guards. They were the ones stealing," Russell said.
The owner of the stricken business suggested that Russell oversee security and the origins of ERMC were born.
Russell recalled that providing security for Northgate Mall after it was built by locally based shopping center company CBL & Associates Properties Inc. was among his early accounts. ERMC still does security at the mall, though ownership changed over the years before returning to the CBL fold a few years ago.
Russell later bought One Park Place, which served as CBL's headquarters for many years before it built a new home office near its flagship Hamilton Place mall.
Russell, who has five children, 13 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren, said he's active on several community boards, but one of his favorites is the Hunter Worley Foundation that helps pay funeral expenses for youth whose families can't afford to do so.
"That's one of the most rewarding boards," he said. "What we do in life is to better the next guy. It's not so much you as an individual but what you do to make life better for others."
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.