Ohio Transmission Corp., Columbus, Ohio, announced Monday that longtime CEO Phil Derrow, will be transitioning to a new role as chairman for the company. OTC’s board of directors named David Scheer as the new CEO; Scheer will also be joining the board of directors. 

OTC was co-founded in 1963 by Phil Derrow’s father, David Derrow, and L. Philip Carstens. Since its founding, OTC has grown from just six employees in a single location in Columbus to more than 1,200 employees in 47 locations across the United States.

Phil Derrow became CEO in 1998 and led a period of growth that saw the company’s revenue increase by more than 10 times and the firm’s employees increase by five times. In 2013, Derrow led the company through a transition to private equity ownership, culminating in a sale to Genstar Capital in April 2019. Derrow’s move to the chairman role was planned as part of the Genstar acquisition.

“It is impossible to adequately express my profound gratitude to all of our associates, customers and suppliers for their trust, support and friendship during my career. It has truly been the gift of a lifetime of service for which I am profoundly grateful,” Derrow said. “I am excited to hand over the reins to an executive as accomplished as David.”

Said Scheer, “I am honored and excited to join OTC as CEO. Phil has built an extraordinary business that has offered an unparalleled level of service to America’s leading industrial companies for many years. I look forward to working with all of OTC’s team members to continue to grow and build one of the country’s largest industrial solutions providers.”

Scheer has more than 30 years of experience leading global industrial manufacturing businesses and specialty industrial distributors. Currently, he serves on the board of Clarience Technologies, LLC. Prior to joining OTP, Scheer was the CEO of Power Products, LLC and its related entity, ECM Industries.