The Right Fit
Maynard family finds a partner in APSU
Last December, Joe Maynard, co-owner of ECHO Power Engineering, attended a holiday concert with Austin Peay State University President Alisa White, and he did something that evening that surprised his close friends and family. He wore a blazer.
“Everybody was shocked,” he said.
Maynard prefers blue jeans and during the winter months, a comfortable sweatshirt. His office, in the basement of his home, isn’t heated or air conditioned, but from that room’s small desk, he oversees a $30 million power engineering company, whose customers include the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), The Tennessee Valley Authority and NASA.
“This is the world headquarters of ECHO Power Engineering,” he said jokingly, waving a hand through the quiet room. Two years ago, Maynard moved his family to Montgomery County, bringing the company with him, and one afternoon last spring, he sat in his basement office and decided to contact the nearby university—Austin Peay.
“My business partner Scott Carroll and I were looking for ways to give back to the community, so I sent an email through the website,” he said.
A few weeks later, the University’s Athletics Department announced that the club level inside Fortera Stadium was being renamed the ECHO Power Club Level thanks to a 10-year, $575,000 partnership with the company.
“We didn’t want to go with Middle Tennessee State University—that’s too big now,” Maynard said. “We really wanted to work with something smaller. I have a granddaughter that may go to Austin Peay and a potential granddaughter-in-law that goes to Austin Peay. My best friend, he’s an alum. It’s a good school.”
But something else about the school appealed to Maynard. He learned that Austin Peay is the state’s largest provider of higher education to a population that’s important to him—veterans. Maynard retired from the U.S. Army having spent most of his career as a prime power production specialist with the Corps of Engineers. In that position, he traveled the world, developing critical infrastructure to developing nations. The military is where he met his wife Cathi. She also served in the U.S. Army as did his son Joe C. Maynard, his daughter-in-law Andrea and his grandson Joe C. Maynard, Jr. For 43 consecutive years, a member of the Maynard family has been on active duty with the military.
“Our company does a lot of charity, and we’re really passionate about veterans, kids and the homeless,” Maynard said. “Austin Peay is a good fit. It has a good vet program over there.”
Last fall, Maynard’s son and daughter-in-law provided free tickets to Austin Peay’s Military Appreciation Game for all current and former military. Earlier this spring, the family made another generous gift to the University, establishing the Joe and Cathi Maynard Baseball Field at Hand Park and the Joe and Cathi Maynard Softball Stadium. This family and company, with no previous connections to Austin Peay, are now becoming one of the University’s strongest supporters. And Maynard plans to continue the relationship, particularly in regards to the University’s new engineering programs.
“We’re hoping we’ll get employees out of it,” he said. “We’re wanting to influence engineering to do more with our power side. My partner and I want to sit down with the dean (of the College of STEM) and say, ‘here’s a big hole in our world that we see. And if you can start putting this type of program together, you can be a pipeline to ECHO Power and our utility customers.’”