A fateful conversation led Stephen D. Johnston to turn down the lure of the big city in favor of an academic future at Ole Miss.

Johnston (BBA 93) says he has been blessed in many ways, but most memorable are the day he decided to attend Ole Miss and the day he joined SmartSynch, a global wireless-technology company based in Jackson.

“I almost didn’t go to Ole Miss. Instead, I’d decided to go to Rhodes College [in Memphis] on anathletics scholarship,” Johnston said. “It was by faith I met Gerald Turner at my high school in Jackson. He was guest speaker at the grand reopening of my high school, and I gave him the tour.”

Johnston, a 1989 graduate of Forrest Hill High School in south Jackson, says Turner told him, “We’d love to have you at Ole Miss.”

Turner, Ole Miss chancellor from 1984 to 1995, recalls meeting then 17-year-old Johnston. “We tried to recruit the best all-around students in Mississippi for our top scholarships. These students were active in the student government of their high schools and were always at the top of their class academically.

“When I met Stephen Johnston at his high school, I knew immediately that we wanted him at Ole Miss. He was articulate, self-confident and very bright,” said Turner, president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas.

Johnston was awarded a prestigious Hearin-Hess Scholarship, which made it possible for him to receive a superlative business education in his home state. Yet Johnston says he had no idea what opportunities would be in store for him once he arrived at Ole Miss.

“All I knew back then was I wanted a career where I could help people on a global level,” said Johnston, who graduated from UM after leading his fellow students as president of the Associated Student Body and membership in top honor societies including the Chancellor’s Leadership Class, Hall of Fame and Phi Kappa Phi.

From his first job as an investment banker at FirstUnion Securities (now Wachovia Securities, Inc.) to being named CEO of SmartSynch in 2004, Johnston says his education at Ole Miss has been the foundation for his global career.

“I have worked with people from all over the world—from Duke, Harvard and more.

Immediately I learned my education at Ole Miss had equipped me to be on the same level as my peers,” Johnston said.

Ole Miss taught him to be practical but to think big, Johnston said. “If you don’t, you’ll never achieve greatness. Don’t put limits around your mind.”

Not putting limits around his mind is how Johnston ended up at SmartSynch.

Johnston joined the Jackson-based company as director of business development and finance soon after the start-up company launched in 2000. SmartSynch is the leading provider of advanced metering solutions for the energy and utility industry. The state of California placed the SmartMeter System, the company’s core product, in 95 percent of businesses soon after its 2001 energy crisis. In June, the company was named a top 10 Clean Tech Company in The Clean Tech Revolution: The Next Big Growth and Investment Opportunity (Collins, 2007).

Being recognized as a top green company was not an original goal, Johnston says. The SmartMeter was designed to make metering easy for electricity-service providers and to enable utilities to reduce operating costs, improve customer service and offer conservation incentives.
“With more and more Americans taking conservation into their own hands, we are proud to help address some of the global energy crisis with our clients,” Johnston said. “The SmartMeter is very effective in helping save natural energy and lowering energy costs.”

Resembling a traditional electric meter, the SmartMeter facilitates real-time acquisition of power usage from electricity meters via public wireless networks and the Internet. Originally geared toward utility companies, SmartSynch began selling a residential version of one of its meters in February. Today, SmartSynch is the preeminent provider of advanced metering solutions and serves more than 70 utilities and companies throughout North America. Itspartners include Siemens, Motorola, Itron, Elster, General Electric, Rogers and AT&T.

“This company and our products are testaments to what you can do in Mississippi,” Johnston said. “We take a global view on what we do. We sell our products in Canada and beyond. We recently went to China because they have technology we might need.”

Johnston’s original job at SmartSynch was to secure capital to “enable our money to grow and fulfill our goals of hiring more employees,” he said. “I tackled the job head-on because it was important for us to continue bringing in great talent.”

Providing jobs for those talented Mississippians to keep them in state was important then and remains at the top of Johnston’s agenda today.

“Mississippi is known for its talented graduates, but it’s hard for our state to keep our talent here,” he said.

SmartSynch helps keep those graduates in Mississippi by offering a competitive summer internship program with Jackson State University and Tougaloo College, both in Jackson.
“We also have a lot of Ole Miss graduates. In fact, we hired two Newman Scholars back to back,” Johnston said. “We reach out to all our colleges and universities because it’s important to offer the people in the state a secure career.”

Ole Miss graduate Matt Thornton (BBA 90) joined the company in July 2006 as vice president of corporate development.

“Stephen and I were in the same fraternity at Ole Miss, and our wives are childhood friends,” said Thornton. “I’d followed SmartSynch’s development since the beginning, and, when Stephen called, I realized I should jump at the opportunity.”

He said most Mississippians simply want to come home, and SmartSynch offers an unparalleled opportunity to return to Mississippi and work for an intellectually stimulating company.

“To be able to lure Mississippi graduates back home is great,” Thornton said. “To be able to lure Mississippians back home to work at an internationally recognized ‘green’ company is unique.”
At only 36 years old, Johnston realizes being CEO of a company leading the tech revolution is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“When I was younger, I had no idea what I’d do. I did know I wanted to do something significant for Mississippi,” he said. “Now I’m living my dream of helping to create a high-tech, successful company. I honestly don’t know how it all worked out, but I will say I’m so blessed.”
While Johnston’s “dream job” requires a good amount of travel and time away from home, he says it does not keep him from living a full life.

“I try to have balance in my life. I think it’s very important to keep the Lord first, then my wife and family, and then work,” Johnston said.

He was an undergraduate at Ole Miss when he met his wife Melissa (MA 93), who was working on her master’s degree in exercise science.

“I was smart enough to marry my sweetheart in 1993, and now we have four children ages 8, 6, 3 and 1,” he said. Johnston, Melissa, their two sons and two daughters live in Ridgeland.

For more information on SmartSynch, visit the company’s Web site at www.smartsynch.com.