Karl Couyoumjian almost didn’t end up at TeL Systems, the audio-visual company of which he is now president. In fact, when he was first offered a job at the company, also called Thalner Electronic Laboratories, he turned it down.

In 1977, Couyoumjian was finishing up graduate school at the University of Michigan and worked part time in the university’s television center. He had just finished a project when, one day, he received a call from Robert Thalner, who had been told about Couyoumjian by a mutual acquaintance. Thalner asked Couyoumjian if he was interested in a position as a salesman calling on the University of Michigan to sell Thalner’s audio-visual and conferencing systems.

“I thanked him and said nope, it was not what I wanted to do, and goodbye,” Couyoumjian said. At that time, Couyoumjian was interested in producing films and TV, not selling audio-visual equipment. But, a little while later, he decided to call back and pitch an idea to Thalner.

“At that time, Thalner had a production arm, and I called him back and said, ‘Let’s talk. Why don’t I do video production with sales on the side?’ and he said, ‘How about doing sales with video production on the side?’”

Couyoumjian has been with TeL Systems ever since. Since he was first hired,  the company phased out its production arm and, in 1991, was bought out by its employees. At that time, Couyoumjian became president of the employee-owned company.

Today, Couyoumjian said one of the biggest challenges he faces is keeping up with advances in technology.

“We’re a very technology-driven company,” Couyoumjian said. TeL Systems has designed, installed and maintained audio-visual equipment systems in a wide variety of venues, from the University of Michigan stadium to Mott Hospital.

“Our business has changed quite a bit over the last 33 years I’ve been here. When the company was founded in 1965, video was a high tech business. Now, you’re able to do things with very low-end equipment. With your PC, you can now do things that used to cost hundreds of thousands of dollar to do just 10 years ago.”

Because of the high tech and ever-changing nature of the business, Couyoumjian said it’s very important to “keep our employees well educated,” on upcoming technology and trends.

In addition to leading TeL Systems, Couyoumjian’s other main role is chair of the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce board of directors. He was and remains deeply involved in the process of combining the Ann Arbor organization and the Ypsilanti Chamber into a regional chamber.

“We all talk about looking a things globally,” Couyoumjian said. “For the chamber, regional is thinking big — regional is our (version of) global.”

The merger was announced in December, but Couyoumjian said the entire process is likely to “take years, rather than months,” especially since both chambers are locked into leases for their buildings.

Couyoumjian said what most surprised him about the merger was how positive everyone was about the idea. He said the chambers had been kicking the merger idea around for ten or more years, but last year, when an integration committee with members from each chamber sat down together, they reached consensus on the idea very quickly.

“After the first meeting, they came out of it and said, ‘Let’s do this,’” Couyoumjian said. “It was just one of those times, the stars aligned — it was time to do it.”

Background

Age: 57

Education: Bachelor’s degree from Albion College; Master’s degree from University of Michigan.

Family: Wife Nan (34 years); daughters Anne, 30, Sarah, 24, and Katie, 19.

Residence: Ann Arbor.

Business Insights

Best business decision: Hiring the terrific people that work at TeL Systems.

Worst business decision: After having done this for as long as I have, it’s hard to choose a favorite.

Best way to keep a competitive edge: Having all of the information necessary before you make a decision…then make a decision.

Personal heroes: My father and my father-in-law. They started with nothing, yet both became very successful in their family and professional lives. Though they came from very different backgrounds (my father, an Armenian immigrant, and my father-in-law, an Indiana farm boy) both had the same incredibly strong work ethic and unwavering sense of decency.

How do you motivate people? I have found that most people are pretty self-motivated, so I let them do their jobs and try to resist the urge to micro-manage rather than teach.

What advice would you give to yourself in college? Enjoy the experience and get involved in as many activities as possible, as life is going to get much busier and more complicated as soon as you graduate... and take more finance courses.

Words that best describe you: Funny and forthright.

First Web site you check in the morning: Annarbor.com (what else would you expect me to say?)

Confessions

What keeps you up at night? Mostly things that, the next morning, I realize weren’t worth losing sleep over.

Pet peeve: People with hidden agendas and those that take themselves too seriously.

Guilty pleasure: Spending as much time as I can at our cottage in Northern Michigan.

First job: Lifeguard.

First choice for a new career: Own a small market radio station and have an on-air slot during the day.

Treasures

Favorite cause: Washtenaw Community College and The Washtenaw 100. WCC is a terrific institution, who’s mission is now more important than ever. The Washtenaw 100 is a little-known 40-year-old charity that provides immediate financial support to the families of fallen Washtenaw County police and firefighters and provides scholarships to the children of active Washtenaw County police and firefighters.

Favorite book: Most recently, “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest” by Stieg Larsson.

Favorite movie: Pretty much anything directed by Ron Howard

Favorite hobby: Riding bikes with my wife or almost anything automotive related.

Favorite restaurant: West End Grill.

Favorite bar: Mélange.

LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter? LinkedIn…with a minor in Facebook.

Typical Saturday: There’s no such thing. In the fall it’s tailgating and Michigan football or traveling to Denison University to watch our daughter play field hockey. Winter and spring I’m doing minor home or automotive projects and Powercycling at Heart of a Warrior. Summer I’m up north biking, boating and relaxing.

What team do you root for? Michigan!

Wheels: Lincoln MKS, but, on nice evenings and weekends, it’s one of our classic cars. Up north it’s my pickup truck.

Who would play you in a movie? As much as I would like to think it would be Hugh Jackman, it would probably be more like Ned Beatty.
<
em>Sarah Rigg is a freelance writer and a frequent contributor to AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at sarahrigg@yahoo.com.