Profile on ATECH: The Company Built by Technicians for Technicians

Now in its 35^th year in business, ATECH Inc is a multi-million-dollar company with three branches and multiple satellites servicing all of Tennessee and parts of Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

At the helm of this success story is President/CEO, Mark LeBerte, who started it all with a life-changing pivot from musician to technician. Mark began playing piano at the age of 14 but really fell in love with the guitar when he was 16 years old. After attending Berklee College of Music, the premier institute of music and the performing arts, Mark eventually moved to Nashville where he became a recording engineer/ producer as a studio musician. He owned a recording studio on the famed “Music Row” and worked with people who are now in the Hall of Fame.” He likes to say that he was “almost famous.”.

As Mark recalls, in the early 1990s the music industry was going flat due to the Gulf War, and he needed a “side hustle” to support his growing young family. That’s when he embarked on a new career path that would prove more successful than he ever imagined, starting with a pickup truck, a set of tools and a cell phone (not to mention the knowledge he’d gained working his way through college as a maintenance tech for a Pizza Hut franchisee where he was the “Middleby Marshall oven guy.”) Mark had previously worked for Jones McLeod, as well, which is where he honed his technical skills on a broader equipment scale.

He not only tapped into his technical knowledge, but also leaned into the softer skills he picked up along the way. “I brought that perspective to the arena and said…I know exactly what the customer wants. Now I’m going to deliver it.” Mark says, “I tell people all the time, you want to know how to be successful, find out what the customer wants and deliver it.”

“And so that’s what we started doing, and it started off at the beginning with one truck and then technician one, technician two, technician three…finding like- minded people who think like I do and who believe what I believe (and)…who enjoy helping people.”

Early on, Mark also recognized the need to establish Core Values to help ensure ATECH is hiring the right people. “Our values are customer focused, teamwork driven, committed to excellence, and doing the right thing, being fair.” explains Mark. Through leading by example and positive affirmation, he coaches employees to use those values as a filter for decision making in everything they do. And this approach has paid off, says Mark. “I’ve got employees here that have been with me for over 28 years, 22 years, 18 years and more.”

The team also uses predictive index profiling to make sure that candidates are the right fit, based on their personality type, behavioral profile and cognitive abilities for a particular role. “Experience is important, but you can take someone with a good character and teach them what they need to learn if they have the aptitude. You can’t take a bad character with good experience and ever make them fit your team.”

Mark credits Vistage International, a leading CEO peer group, with much of what he’s learned when it comes to training and development. He’s found tremendous benefit from this group, employing best practices that Fortune 500 companies use to help recruit and develop ATECH’s 50+ employee base.

ATECH is often referred to internally as a company “built by technicians for technicians.” Their geographic expansion is designed not only to enter new markets and grow the business, but also to enhance employees’ professional development and progression within the company. “You’ve got to be creating opportunity and that opportunity comes from growth,” Mark describes.

Social responsibility is also core to ATECH. Mark says that serving those who serve others enriches the lives of teammates and their families, as well as the people in the community. As a result, the company supports a wide variety of organizations and charitable causes, including Big Brothers/Big Sisters, The Bridge Ministry, Special Olympics and ASPCA just to name a few.

ATECH is continually recognized and rewarded both within and outside the foodservice industry, which is evidenced by the numerous awards reflecting off the bookcase in Mark’s office. They are a past recipient of the FE&S Industry Award for Top Achiever – Service Agent in 2012, Alto-Shaam’s distinguished ASA of the Year award in 2020 and a multi-year recipient of the US Department of Labor HIRE Vets Gold Medallion Award. This is the only federal-level veterans employment award that recognizes an organization’s commitment to hiring and training American military veterans. In 2024, ATECH also made the Inc. 5000 list, an annual ranking of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S.

So, with all these accolades and continued success after a nearly 35-year run, what is the one piece of advice Mark would give his younger self about his career journey?

“You learn a lot of things along the way that you wish you had known before you started, but then that’s just part of the journey,” he reflects. “You have to learn little by little. I would have said to my younger self, ‘be humble andstart with the end in mind.’”

To learn more about ATECH Inc, visit www.atechinfo.com