About Us

Southern States
Investment Holdings

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Over a Century of Innovation

Southern States, LLC is a 105-year-old electrical power equipment manufacturer that experienced strong organic growth in the past 25 years. In 2018, Southern States Investment Holdings, LLC (SSIH) was established to continue growing the business by investing long term alongside owners and managers of profitable and growing companies in the lower middle market electric energy sector. SSIH focuses on companies with enterprise values generally up to $50 million

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Founded In

1916

Privately Held and Independent

Success With Organic Growth and Incubating New Businesses

Strong Brand and
Sales Channel

Strategic Investor,
Long Term

Our Mission

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01.

Diversify

Diversify through investments in companies serving global Electric Power Markets

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02.

Grow

Grow SSIH consolidated revenue outside SSL to $150MM by 2027

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03.

Reinvest

Reinvest profits for perpetual growth

Let's Connect

Discover how we can grow together
 
Contact Us
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A black and white photo of Jeff Grey

Jeffrey Howe

President & CEO

Jeff has more than 35 years of experience in sales, marketing, strategy, and management. He is an experienced businessman and leader now working in M&A, enabling and supporting companies’ growth and coordinating shared resources to unlock potential.

Serving as VP and General Manager of Southern States’ Power Switching Division for 10 years, he led all aspects of the business including R&D, sales, manufacturing, engineering and aftersales support. During his tenure the business doubled its revenues and tripled its earnings. Before Southern States, Jeff was a growing leader at Siemens over 15 years in many roles in the US and Germany. He started in Strategy and M&A and later took on more and more leadership responsibilities in marketing, product management, and business unit management. Jeff started his career in IBM’s world class sales organization selling to and supporting large manufacturing companies in the south east.  

He received a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and an MBA in Finance and Strategy from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeff currently serves on the Board of Directors of several operating companies including Southern States LLC, Coelme-Egic, Northern Transformer, Systems with Intelligence, Vanguard Electric and Evolution Insurance. He is a board observer and official advisor to Diram and ACT. 

Our Philosophy

"A business is a perpetual entity and it is up to us to be good stewards during our time so that it can live on long after we are gone."
Raj Anand
Southern States CEO 1996-present
Raj Anand, came to Southern States in the company’s 80th year during a time it was struggling to survive. He immediately turned the company around and then over the next 25 years increased its value many fold.What got us here was a long-term outlook, a focus on controlling costs, value-based product pricing, and ongoing investment to solve unmet customer needs. These fundamentals have been implemented many times since 1996, adding new products and businesses that have helped the company navigate the ups and downs of the market. We have a very conservative approach to financials with emphasis on a strong balance sheet, conservative reserves, and profitable product lines. Today the company is rock solid and expanding its successful formulas to outside investments.
"First determine if something is needed, then go ahead."
Thomas Edison

We are always asking our customers what they need today and what they will need in the future, and then we set out to find or build a solution for them. It is impossible for us to address our industry’s needs by ourselves, so we are constantly adding talent to our team and always keeping our customers’ needs at the forefront.

"We are just a bunch of engineers having fun."
Joe Rostron
Southern States Chief Technical Officer

We like technology and how it solves customer needs. Designing and producing electrical power equipment and helping to build the modern grid involves many of the most challenging technical and environmental problems on earth. We love working together with engineers across companies and around the world, coming up with and developing new and innovative solutions.