Brad Meyers passed away on 21 March 2017, after a wonderful last day at work, visiting with the all the folks that continually transformed his visions into reality. 

A business’s true story lies deeper than the company’s product line or the pedigree of its executives. A family-owned company, the B.E. Meyers story is Brad Meyers’ own quintessential American success story of struggle, entrepreneurship, and innovation – and one that didn’t start with lasers.

Over 40 years later, B.E. Meyers & Co., Inc. is still a family business that prides itself on serving the needs of the warfighter with passion, ingenuity, and innovation.

Brad and Nancy Meyers began the company in 1974 by combining his hobby of SCUBA diving with his knowledge of explosives and a passion for the unorthodox, operating out of their home in Seattle, Washington.

B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc. started as SeaMesh Corporation, a unique underwater demolition company that started clearing away subsurface debris in the shipyards of Puget Sound, and evolved into providing a service for large ships to clear their hulls from marine growth while at anchor. With his patented method of utilizing a low-yield explosive mesh system, Brad was able to create a high-pressure wave effect that would clear barnacles from the ship, but leave the steel hull undamaged. This allowed for expedited and inexpensive ship maintenance as costly dry dock fees could be avoided and the process could be completed in a day. Fewer barnacles resulted in less drag, and less drag resulted in better fuel economy during the routine ocean journeys of these large vessels.

As operations and insurance costs increased, SeaMesh became difficult to sustain and later evolved into B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc. in 1974. Brad took his interest in optics and astronomy and started an astronomy business out of their small home, successfully selling a variety of telescopes and other equipment throughout the typically cloudy Pacific Northwest. During this time is when Brad began experimenting with early night vision tubes, and created some of the first systems sold commercially to police departments across the US. This evolved into a line of night vision systems and long-range surveillance systems for state and federal law enforcement, and then high-power infrared and visible lasers for weapons and military applications came next.

Our abilities as a laser manufacturer came to the forefront during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, when the IZLID became a sought after commodity that allowed both Special Operations and conventional forces to clearly and precisely communicate with other assets on the battlefield to orchestrate the combined firepower of friendly forces against the enemy. Brad Meyers was proud of his role in helping the Warfighter come home safely, and B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc. molded this into our philosophy of “Build It Right, Save A Life”. We design military equipment for the US and her allies, specifically for those who are forward in the fight, both today and into the future.

Brad was the consummate inventor and innovator, and he enjoyed the pursuit of disruptive technologies that provide the catalyst for continual advances at B.E. Meyers & Co. Inc. Before his passing, Brad held the title of Founder and CEO Emeritus and could usually be found with the Engineering team exploring new ideas, and was always accompanied by his German Shepherd and faithful sidekick, Shadow.