In September 1979, Eugene Higgins acquired Electroline, Inc., a local distributor of electrical wire, cable and specialty products. Glenn Higgins, Euguene’s son, worked alongside his dad and the company grew significantly, supplying products to paper companies, manufacturing plants and contractors throughout Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Top products included electrical wire and cable, electronic wire and cable, and power termination equipment. The company also expanded into critical infrastructure tools and services, focusing primarily on power protection and precision cooling for IT equipment.
By the late 1980s, Glenn had taken on the role of president and began to see Electroline’s customer needs changing. Demands for data and voice communication services were present. Glenn worked with company leaders to undertake a market study around these new demands and, based on the results, Electroline Data Communications, Inc (EDCi) was born in 1989.
EDCi utilized relationships with Electroline customers to grow the business in the networking and telephony space, providing hardware solutions such as phones, routers and switches, and using our wire and cable management expertise to connect the devices together. By 1995, EDCi was supporting about 30 vendors in voice and data services. As EDCi continued to grow, expertise in servers, storage, security and modern workplace were also added.
Fast forward another decade and EDCi was at it again — understanding customer needs and rising to the occasion to meet them. In 1999 the company expanded into the contact center market via a partnership with Interactive Intelligence. After significant growth in this arena, a separate customer care business unit was created by 2005.
In 2011, Sarah Higgins, Glenn’s daughter, joined the Electroline sales team, working with IT power and cooling solutions before moving into the EDCi business in 2015.
Shortly thereafter, upon completing a couple of projects in health care software integrations in 2017, the team recognized an emerging opportunity in this area — EDCi officially added its software division in 2022. Via its EHRConnect® software, this division has led to 99% growth in health care sales (2019-2023) and garnered EDCi national recognition as a patient (health care) experience expert. In early 2023, Sarah officially took the reins as president with Glenn moving into an advisory role.
Today, via its three business units — experience, software, and data center — EDCi demonstrates proven excellence in strategic needs assessment, project management, design, installation, risk management, training and post-implementation support. Electroline, the legacy business, has remained strong over the decades with continued focus in IT critical infrastructure and wire and cabling expertise.
Looking back, over 45 years later, the Higgins family is so proud of this company — the amazing team members have become a second family and continuously dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to helping customers identify and address business needs. More importantly, EDCi and Electroline maintain a family-friendly culture by consistently and strongly living by their core values: Never stop caring, Embrace challenges, Rise to the occasion and Always be honest and respectful. They are excited to see what the next 45 years have in store for EDCi and Electroline!
N779 Communication Drive
Appleton, WI 54914
920-733-0303 | edci.com
