Built to Last, Not to Flip. · Since 1979
The System Scale Story
System Scale has been growing since 1979, but the idea behind the company has stayed remarkably consistent: keep ownership close to the people doing the work, stay close to the customer, and build for what comes next.
Explore Our Story
System Scale started small. In late 1978, Larry Polster took over Toledo Scale’s Indianapolis sales territory, working out of Kokomo with no office, no staff, and no service department. A few months later, System Scale Corporation was officially formed.
The company did not grow as one centralized operation. Its first markets developed independently. Sales and service were often separate businesses, and different locations had their own owners and local leaders. Over time, those operations were brought together under one System Scale Corporation, but something important remained: responsibility stayed close to the work and close to the customer.
That local ownership mindset became part of the company long before System Scale became employee-owned.
In 1995, ownership took on a new meaning. System Scale established an ESOP, beginning a transition that would eventually put ownership in the hands of the people doing the work.
The Story Begins: 1975
1975–1984
Building System Scale
From one Indianapolis sales territory to a regional company with local sales and service teams.
10 milestones · Click to explore
1975
THE CHICAGO YEARS
Before System Scale, founder Larry Polster split his time between two very different businesses. He owned a furniture store in Kokomo, Indiana, and started selling scales for Toledo Scale in Chicago in 1975.
He made the drive north while continuing to run the furniture store back home. It was his early introduction to the weighing industry.
DEC 1978
THE INDIANAPOLIS TERRITORY
By late 1978, Larry’s work with Toledo Scale had led to a bigger opportunity. Toledo asked him to take over sales for the Indianapolis market and build the territory himself.
Still based in Kokomo, Larry began working the Indianapolis territory with no office, no staff, and no service team. For the next few months, it was essentially a one-man sales operation, with Larry covering the market and building the customer base from the trunk of his car.
That territory would soon become home to System Scale’s first official office.
FEB 7, 1979
SYSTEM SCALE IS INCORPORATED
On February 7, 1979, System Scale Corporation was officially incorporated in Indiana, with its first office in Westfield.
The business started as a sales operation only. System Scale sold the equipment and managed the customer relationship, but installation and service still came through Toledo Scale. There was no service department yet, just a small team focused on building the Indianapolis market.
JUL 1979
MEMPHIS OPENS
Just a few months after System Scale was incorporated, the company expanded beyond Indiana with a sales operation in Memphis, Tennessee .
Memphis followed the same early model as Indianapolis: establish a local sales presence first, build the customer base, and rely on Toledo Scale for service. It was the beginning of a pattern System Scale would repeat as it moved into new markets.
JAN 1980
SERVICE TAKES ROOT
As the Indianapolis business grew, System Scale wanted to give customers more direct support after the equipment sale.
In January 1980, a separate company, System Scale Service Corp., was established to provide installation and service locally. The new operation had its own team and ownership, creating a local service business alongside the original sales company.
It was an early step toward something that would become central to System Scale: keeping the people serving the customer close to the customer.
JAN 1982
NASHVILLE OPENS
In January 1982, System Scale opened a sales operation in Nashville, continuing the same local-first growth model used in Indianapolis and Memphis. New markets were built with local leaders who invested in the business alongside Larry, giving the people building the market a direct stake in its success.
That model became an early foundation for how System Scale would continue to grow.
By the end of the year, System Scale had also added service in Nashville, giving customers local support for both equipment and service.
JAN 1983
JACKSON OPENS
In January 1983, System Scale continued its expansion with a new sales operation in Jackson .
By December, System Scale had also taken over service in the market, bringing sales and service together locally for Jackson customers.
JAN 1983
MOBILE OPENS
That same month, System Scale opened in Mobile, Alabama , extending the company’s reach to the Gulf Coast.
Service followed later that year, giving the Mobile market the same local sales-and-service presence that was taking shape across System Scale.
NOV 1983
SALES & SERVICE COME TOGETHER
System Scale Service Corp. merged into the original System Scale Corporation, bringing the Indianapolis sales and service businesses together under one company.
Until then, the service operation had been a separate business. The merger was the first major step toward bringing the early System Scale companies under one structure.
FEB 1984
ONE SYSTEM SCALE
A few months later, System Scale Corporation of Tennessee merged into System Scale Corporation, bringing Memphis, Nashville, Jackson, and Mobile into the same company as Indianapolis.
The early markets had been built with their own local leaders and ownership interests. By 1984, those separate businesses were now operating as one System Scale Corporation, while the local-market approach that shaped them remained.
1989–2010
Ownership & a Lasting Foundation
Acquisitions, calibration, and the transition from founder ownership to a 100% employee-owned company.
10 milestones · Click to explore
1989
A NEW HOME IN INDIANAPOLIS
In 1989, System Scale moved its headquarters from Westfield, Indiana to Indianapolis.
The building became the company’s central home for leadership, operations, and support, and more than three decades later, it still serves as System Scale’s headquarters today.
FEB 1992
A NEW WAY TO GROW
In February 1992, System Scale expanded into Arkansas through the acquisition of McElhaney Scale, founded by O.K. McElhaney, adding operations in Little Rock and Van Buren .
Unlike the company’s earlier markets, which had largely been built from the ground up, Arkansas came through an established local business with its own people, customers, and history.
That continuity mattered. O.K. McElhaney’s son, Rodney, remained with the business and became a top salesman with System Scale. It was an early example of a philosophy that still shapes acquisitions today: grow the company without discarding the people and relationships that made the local business successful.
1995
EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP BEGINS
By 1995, System Scale had been growing for sixteen years, and several of the employees who helped build the company were beginning to approach retirement.
Leadership began looking for a way to take better care of the people who had spent years building the business and give them a meaningful share in the value they had helped create.
That search led System Scale to the Employee Stock Ownership Plan , or ESOP. In 1995, the company began its transition to employee ownership.
What started as a way to provide greater long-term security for employees would eventually become one of the defining parts of System Scale’s culture and ownership structure.
1996
TOLEDO PUTS MORE TRUST IN SYSTEM SCALE
In 1996, Toledo Scale turned over the remaining service responsibility for Memphis and Indianapolis to System Scale.
It was another step in a relationship that had been developing since Larry first began selling for Toledo in the 1970s. System Scale continued selling Toledo equipment, but now had full responsibility for supporting customers in those original markets.
2000
THE FIRST CALIBRATION LAB
In 2000, System Scale opened its first dedicated calibration lab in Little Rock , Arkansas.
The goal was simple: make it easier for customers to get more of their weighing and measurement needs handled through one company. Instead of stopping at scale sales and field service, System Scale could now provide dedicated laboratory calibration as part of a more complete service offering.
The Little Rock lab became the foundation for a broader calibration program that would continue to expand in the years ahead.
2001
OKLAHOMA JOINS SYSTEM SCALE
In 2001, System Scale expanded into Tulsa, Oklahoma through the acquisition of Oklahoma Scale in Broken Arrow.
The operation had its own long history in the market. It originally operated as Toledo Scale before becoming an independent business, Oklahoma Scale, in 1984.
When Oklahoma Scale joined System Scale, its people and customer relationships came with it. Pam Scott was part of that team and remained with the business for decades, carrying that local knowledge and continuity all the way to retirement.
2006
A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP
In 2006, Harry Dunavant became President of System Scale, beginning the company’s first major leadership transition since Larry Polster founded the business.
Larry remained involved with the company, while Harry increasingly took responsibility for leading System Scale into its next chapter.
FEB 2009
30 YEARS & A NEW LOOK
In February 2009, System Scale celebrated its 30th anniversary.
As part of the milestone, the company introduced the System Scale logo still in use today, giving the growing organization a new visual identity for its next chapter.
DEC 2009
100% EMPLOYEE-OWNED
Fourteen years after the ESOP was established, System Scale completed its transition to 100% employee ownership in December 2009.
The company also elected S-corporation status, completing an ownership transition that had begun as a way to share the value of the business with the people helping build it.
From that point forward, employee ownership was not simply a benefit offered by System Scale. It was the ownership structure of the company itself.
EARLY 2010
LARRY RETIRES. HARRY TAKES THE LEAD.
In early 2010, Larry Polster fully retired from System Scale more than three decades after building the company from a single Indianapolis sales territory.
Harry Dunavant, who had served as President since 2006, became Chief Executive Officer and took responsibility for leading the now fully employee-owned company forward.
It marked the end of the founder-led era, but not a change in ownership. System Scale remained in the hands of its employee-owners.
Harry Dunavant, Larry Polster, and their wives
2013–2016
Expansion & Transformation
New markets and the digital infrastructure needed to connect a growing company.
5 milestones · Click to explore
NOV 2013
WEST MONROE JOINS SYSTEM SCALE
System Scale expanded further into Louisiana through the acquisition of Alliance Scale's operation in West Monroe .
The acquisition continued a familiar approach to growth: build on an established local business, its people, and the customer relationships already rooted in the market.
DEC 2014
TANGENT LABS JOINS SYSTEM SCALE
In 2014, System Scale acquired the industrial scale division of Tangent Labs in Indianapolis.
The acquisition added another established team and customer base in System Scale’s home market, strengthening the company’s service capabilities across Central Indiana.
FEB 2016
GREENWOOD JOINS SYSTEM SCALE
In February 2016, System Scale expanded in Indiana through the acquisition of Master Scale, adding a sales and service operation in Greenwood .
The acquisition strengthened System Scale’s presence in its home state while bringing another established local team and customer base into the company.
MAR 2016
DENHAM SPRINGS JOINS SYSTEM SCALE
One month later, System Scale expanded again in Louisiana through the acquisition of Central Scale in Denham Springs .
Eventually merging with our Baton Rouge location , the addition gave System Scale another established local operation in Louisiana and continued the company’s growth across the Gulf South.
MAR 1, 2016
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
System Scale’s digital transformation had been taking shape for several years. Beginning in the early 2010s, the company started replacing separate paper-based processes with a single connected cloud system.
On March 1, 2016, the new platform officially went live company-wide, the same day System Scale completed its acquisition of Central Scale in Louisiana.
The change brought customer information, service activity, invoicing, certificates, and other core business processes into a more connected system. It also created the foundation for CalVault , giving customers easier access to calibration certificates and service records.
2023–Today
The Next Generation
New leadership, major expansion, and a growing employee-owned company across 10 states.
5 milestones · Click to explore
2023
LEADERSHIP PASSES FORWARD AGAIN
After more than a decade as CEO, Harry Dunavant passed leadership of System Scale to Mike Sale in 2023.
Mike Sale first became involved with System Scale as an outside CFO before later joining the company as CFO and President, giving the transition continuity rather than a change in direction.
FEB 2024
FIVE NEW LOCATIONS JOIN SYSTEM SCALE
In February 2024, System Scale completed the acquisition of Scale Systems, Inc. , adding five new locations across Georgia and Tennessee: Chattanooga, Augusta, Columbus, Norcross, and Macon.
The acquisition also included the Cartersville area, which initially operated as a satellite of Norcross before later transitioning into a full System Scale business unit.
The expansion brought established local teams, leadership, and customer relationships into System Scale’s employee-owned structure and significantly expanded the company’s presence across the Southeast and greater Georgia area.
JAN 2025
NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP
In 2025, Danny Dunston became President of System Scale, joining CEO Mike Sale in leading the company’s next generation.
The transition continued a leadership model built around continuity, employee ownership, and preparing System Scale for its next stage of growth.
2025
DANNY DUNSTON BECOMES PRESIDENT
In 2025, Daniel "Danny" Dunston became President of System Scale, continuing the company’s next generation of leadership alongside CEO Mike Sale.
The transition continued a leadership structure built around continuity, employee ownership, and preparing System Scale for its next stage of growth.
TODAY
26 LOCATIONS. 10 STATES. ONE EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY.
What began with one sales territory in Indianapolis now stretches across 26 locations in 10 states, supported by two dedicated calibration labs.
Some locations were built from the ground up. Others began as family businesses and local scale companies with histories of their own. Today, they are all part of the same employee-owned company.
The structure has grown. The idea has stayed remarkably consistent: keep ownership close to the people doing the work, keep decisions close to the customer, and build the company for the long term.
A Company Built to Last · Not to Flip
The Company They Built Is Still Employee-Owned.
In business since 1979. Employee-owned since 1995. Today, System Scale is 100% owned through its ESOP by the people working in the business. As employee-owners retire, ownership continues to pass to the next generation rather than leaving the company.
That same long-term approach shapes how System Scale grows. When an established local business joins the company, the goal is not to erase what made it successful. It is to preserve the people, relationships, and local knowledge already serving the market and give those employees the opportunity to become owners in the larger company.
Our standard at an acquired location is a 100% offer rate to its existing technicians, and actual retention has run above 98%. In many cases, the route stays the same and the face at the door stays the same. The ownership changes, but the local relationships do not have to.
Larry Polster, Mike Sale, and Harry Dunavant. Three generations of leadership across System Scale’s history.
Built on More Names Than This Page Can Hold
This timeline is still being written. It names the founders and the leaders because their decisions are the ones that show up as dates and acquisitions. But no timeline this size can name everyone who built the company those decisions describe.
The technicians who kept routes running before there was an ESOP to hand them a stake in the outcome. The ones who joined after and have never known a System Scale that wasn’t employee-owned. Office managers, calibration techs, dispatchers, sales engineers, decades of people whose names never made a milestone but whose work is the reason there are milestones at all. Named or not, every one of them shaped this company.
We’re collecting more of their stories next, starting with the people getting ready to retire from a company they own a piece of. Check back for those.