A Holland electrical services provider will add in-house audio, visual and communication
capabilities following the acquisition of another lakeshore company.

Executives with Hoekstra Electrical Services LLC on Jan. 2 announced a deal for Holland-
based Media Technology Solutions LLC, which specializes in audio and visual for churches,
schools and businesses and recently added surveillance and security services.
The acquisition stemmed from identifying a need from customers and the marketplace for
audio and video technology, services and products, said Paul Hoekstra, founder of Hoekstra
Electrical Services.

The company decided that a strategic acquisition would benefit the business rather than
growing the audio-visual capabilities internally.

“The problem with us starting from scratch — picking the right lane — was if we pick the
wrong technology or something that’s not out there to market, we don’t know how to sell it.
Really, the ideal thing would be finding somebody to partner with,” said Dave Bender, CEO
of Hoekstra Electrical.

Hoekstra Electrical turned to Rob Witteveen, a trade partner of three years and founder of
Media Technology Solutions, with a proposal of an acquisition.

In the deal, Witteveen will continue with Hoekstra Electrical as the technology team director
and work more closely with customers and design systems.

The deal aims to benefit both businesses’ customer base because of the shared values and
visions for the future, while using Media Technology Solutions capabilities to expand
services to customers, Hoekstra said.

“(We provide) everything from design to engineering all the way through construction, all
facets of electric construction … . We needed to grow into the audio and video and
communications technology piece … . (The acquisition) positions us well,” Hoekstra said.
Media Technology Solutions was founded in 2006. Its five employees, including Witteveen,
join the Hoekstra Electrical team, which now numbers 112 employees.

Hoekstra’s electrical, engineering and technology team works on a variety of projects
including high-end custom homes and serving agricultural, commercial, industrial and
educational sites.

“A customer can come to us with an idea, a thought of what they might need, electrically …
. We truly have the capabilities in-house to walk somebody through the complete process
designed with all the completion. (The acquisition) was a big piece for us to fill in that
process,” Hoekstra said.

The deal also will help Hoekstra Electrical expand its apprenticeship program with new
training opportunities, Bender said. After partnering with Grand Rapids Community College,
the company in 2021 established its own electrical apprenticeship program to train its
workers to become licensed electricians.

“What we want to do is be able to provide opportunities for our team as they grow in that.
We’re hiring some high apprentices, we’d like them to have the opportunity to be able to
become journeymen and run jobs for us down the road,” Bender said. “So that means we
need to keep growing just to keep that flywheel turning, provide opportunity… . We have a
pretty broad customer base, and as those customers have grown, we’ve grown as well as
we continue to serve them.”

Holland-based Cunningham Dalman PC served as legal adviser on the deal, the terms of
which were not disclosed.

Learn more about our Technology Team.

By: Elizabeth Schanz, Crain’s Grand Rapids Business
Elizabeth Schanz is a general assignment reporter for Crain’s Grand Rapids Business and Crain’s Detroit Business. The graduate of Grand Valley State University served as editor-in-chief, news editor and arts & entertainment editor of the Grand Valley Lanthorn and previously worked as a reporter for the Oakland County Times covering metro Detroit. She joined Crain’s in May 2024.