SIMI VALLEY, Calif., Dec. 12, 2023 — Chatsworth Products (CPI), a leading global manufacturer of products and solutions that power and protect its customers' ever-growing investment in information and communications technology (ICT), today announced the retirement of Michael Custer, CEO and President of CPI for the last 9+ years, culminating a 27-year total tenure with the 100% employee-owned company. The company is pleased to announce the appointment of Ted Behrens as CEO and President effective January 1, 2024. Though Mr. Custer will retire from his position as CEO at the end of the calendar year, he has been elected to serve as an independent member of the CPI Board of Directors, ensuring a smooth transition of leadership to Mr. Behrens.
Mr. Behrens, most recently the Executive Vice President of Product Management, Hyperscale, IT & Marketing at CPI, brings over 25 years of leadership experience in global engineering and product management. Before CPI, Mr. Behrens was the CEO of Epicenter Inc., an industry leading provider of data center infrastructure management tools to the enterprise and managed services market that was acquired by CPI in 2009. He has held various roles during his 14-year tenure with CPI, including Director of Product Management, Vice President of Operations, and Executive Vice President of Global Engineering and Product Management.
"Ted Behrens has proven his success in leading Product Management and Operations for the company and is poised to add tremendous value in leading our executive team. Ted's extensive experience and leadership at CPI, paired with his deep understanding of our core values makes him a natural fit to lead the company towards its next stage of growth. I look forward to seeing him and the company continue to thrive in achieving their long-term strategic goals in the coming years," said Michael Custer.
In accepting the new role, Ted stated, "Mike's visionary and compassionate leadership has been instrumental in CPI's remarkable achievements over the past twenty-seven years of his service. It is a privilege to lead our dedicated team of partners who share a passion in building great products, serving our customers, and building collective value as Employee-Owners."
CPI's products can be found in the enterprise data centers of the Global 1000, as well as with cloud-based and multi-tenant IT service providers world-wide. Ted Behrens' appointment as CEO and Michael Custer as a continuing Board member reinforces CPI's commitment to driving innovation and excellence in the ICT industry, aligning perfectly with the company's strong focus on delivering cutting-edge solutions to its customers.