GRAND RAPIDS – IT products and services company OST has promoted Meredith Bronk, its Chief Operating Officer, to President effective April 1.

Bronk began her career at OST (Open Systems Technologies) as a Project Manager in 1998. Previously, she served as Vice President of Internal Operations.

?We take succession planning very seriously and have been preparing for this transition for many years,? said Dan Behm, who will remain Chief Executive Officer and also mentor Bronk. ?Over the course of Meredith?s time at OST, she has held positions with increasing responsibilities. Her diverse experience has created a unique combination of financial and interpersonal skills. Meredith?s servant attitude and commitment to the success of others is an excellent representation of OST?s dedication to its employees and customers.?

Behm and Jim VanderMey, Chief Innovation Officer, started the company in January 1997, when OST did $5 million in hardware sales, largely to one partner. Behm, Bronk and VanderMey gradually diversified OST, transforming the company today into a $100 million leader in the IT industry. Besides Grand Rapids, OST has offices in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Minneapolis, and London, England.

“I am excited and humbled to be leading the company at this time of continued rapid growth, and I look forward to honoring our culture of employees first,” said Bronk. ?These are exciting times for OST and the industry as a whole as high tech jobs continue to lead economic rebounds throughout the country. With that said there is not a greater responsibility than guiding our culture and providing the very best work environment for our employees and their families and, in turn, delighting our clients.?

It is this culture that Bronk claims fostered her growth to the top of the organizational chart. When asked about how her career thrived at OST, Bronk responded: I ?feel so fortunate to work for a company that values the strengths that women bring. Women leadership skills are unique and I had many opportunities to learn with coaching and mentoring.?

She said her team became so collaborative she stopped noticing that she often was the only woman at the table.

?The key ingredient to diversity is a cultural commitment to really caring about our customers and our employees,? she said.

Bronk, a mother of three girls, fosters a strong focus at home on the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) just through her example. Now, Bronk said, her career at OST has shown her daughters they too could follow her along a career path in STEM. Bronk has been brainstorming ways to encourage 7th and 8th grade girls to look at careers in technology and app development. Now she wants to bring even more young women into the field.

?A well rounded leader in a male dominated field brings such a diverse set in the technology field,? she said.

Bronk said OST has empowered her throughout her career and now she hopes her rise to the top of the organizational chart will inspire her daughters and other women by showing them the glass ceiling in technology management has become a thing of the past.

Associate Editor Nicole Johnson leads MITechNews.Com?s efforts to foster STEM education, as well as provides coverage for her fellow women in computing. If you have a story idea for Nicole, email [email protected]