meet the leaders of gregg
Executive Leadership
Andri Teneqexhi — CEO
In February of 2024, after spending two years searching for a business to buy, I successfully bought Gregg Communications Systems, and it was a perfect fit right from the start.
I am very proud to be part of the GCS family. I bought this business because I am impressed with what Tom, Dave and the rest of the team have built in the past 20+ years, and I am honored to be in this position and continue the legacy of Gregg Communications. I am very fortunate to be part of a talented group of professionals who always put the client first and support one another. What I have learned so far throughout my career, and what I believe to be true without a doubt, is that great people make all the difference in a business. You simply cannot achieve great things without having great people around you. I have been lucky enough to have had an incredibly rewarding career which taught me the importance of support and teamwork, and I am excited to manage a business that is characterized by those same principles.
Originally, I was born in Albania and immigrated to the United States in 2008 when I was a junior in high school. I finished high school at Glenbard East and began my undergraduate career at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I graduated from UIUC with a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Electrical Engineering. After my graduation, I began working for Sargent & Lundy. While working there, I was also completing my professional degree at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where I earned my Master in Business Administration.
Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, playing soccer and doing different types of outdoor activities with my wife.
Dave LeTourneau — Transition & VoIP Specialist
I joined Gregg Communications as an Account Executive in 1982. Over the years, it has been amazing to experience the advances in communications technology. My focus has been with contact centers and specialized application solutions, and I am passionate about customer satisfaction. I enjoy brainstorming and “rolling up my sleeves” with our clients and prospects to ensure they maximize the benefits our solutions offer their operations.
I very much enjoy spending time with my lovely wife of 35 years and our 4 wonderful children and our first grandchild, Landon, who we view as our “miracle baby”. Landon was born at 25 weeks and weighed just 1 lb 9 oz. As amazing as the advances in communications technology have been over the last 35 years, the advances in the medical field have been even greater! For that, we are extremely thankful! Basketball has also been a very big part of my life, having played at Eastern Illinois University and having coached Youth Basketball in Batavia for 20 years and running.
Karen Willson – President
2002 marked the beginning of my tenure with Gregg Communications. While I came on board as the CFO, I continued to branch out into other areas of the organization, taking on the role of COO in 2011, and President in 2021. As President, I oversee Finance, Administration, Technical Support, Project Management, as well as Client and Vendor Relationship Management.
I have the pleasure of working daily with an outstanding team; all of whom strive to deliver an exceptional client experience, and GCS’ NPS score reflects those efforts. I also work closely with our Sales team headed up by our EVP Dave LeTourneau.
My finest accomplishment away from the office has been raising three extraordinary kids – Kelly, Colin and Danny. Spending time with them, their spouses, and our grandchildren is truly a joy! Being an avid dog lover, I’m also “mom” to two Labrador Retrievers, Shandy and Finley. My husband and I are avid hikers, and “glampers” and are on a quest to RV to all of the continental United States National Parks!
Tom Rickert — Transition Specialist
In August of 2021, after 46 years with Gregg Communications, I am pleased to officially announce that I am now Chairman of the Board and will no longer be actively involved in the day-to-day running of the company
I had been the CEO since January 1, 2005, after having started my career with Gregg Communications as an Account Executive in 1975. I have always been very focused on external and internal levels of customer satisfaction. As our vision states, "Our clients, coworkers and suppliers will experience excellence from experts on every interaction."
As a result, I am proud to say that Gregg has just achieved its 67th consecutive quarter of providing "world-class" customer satisfaction according to independent third-party surveys and the globally recognized Net Promoter Score (NPS) index. I was fortunate to lead a very talented group of professionals who help our business clients learn about, use, embrace, afford and maintain the technology for cloud and premise-based VoIP telephone systems.
Outside of work, I enjoy traveling, reading and spending time with my family (wife, Joan, who is a K-5 Physical Education teacher at Madison School in Hinsdale, son Steve, who is a Cloud Platform Representative with Oracle, son, TJ, who is the Manager, Strategic Programs at Aon Corporation, daughter Emily, who is a partner with the law firm Swanson Martin and Bell in Chicago, son-in-law Tom Fitzgerald, who is an Account Executive, Premier Sales with the Chicago Cubs, brand new daughters-in-law, Mallorie, who is a Senior Implementation Manager at Vitality Group, and Megan, who is a Key Account Manager at Danone, and our course, our pride and joys, grandsons Nolan and Rory).
Over the past 25 years, I have had the privilege of coaching football and basketball at St. Peter and Paul School and baseball for the Naperville Little League. Currently, I am a big college basketball fan and cherish the time we spend with our family at our beach house in Michigan City.
Wayne Heider – Director of Technology
I was originally introduced to Gregg Communications as a customer while working for Waste Management. Having appreciated the excellent support Gregg provided, I decided to join them as a technician in 1999. I became Manager of Technical Service in 2001 and was named Director of Technology in 2011. My team and I are committed to providing the best possible customer experience to prospects and clients from the initial sales process through implementation and ongoing support.
Gregg Communications is an excellent place to work. Everyone feels like family and we help each other out whether it’s filling in after hours or supporting the first day of operation at a customer site for a new system. I get to meet all the great Gregg customers and build a lasting relationship with them.
My hobbies are riding bikes and fishing. I have many fond memories of teaching my 3 children how to fish. Now, I’m looking forward to teaching these skills to my 4 grandchildren. What a joy it is to see them catch a fish for the first time. My recent trip to Mackinaw Island in Michigan was great. It’s a perfect place to ride bikes and horses as cars are not allowed.