Marcus Ernst
Who is Marcus Ernst?
Marcus Ernst is a first-generation American. He was born in the United States to German immigrants, John & Marianne Ernst.
Marcus is a native English speaker but is also fluent in German.
Marcus was born and raised in Maryland. He has lived in the Annapolis area since 1987 (except for a short stint in the New York City metro area).
Marcus attended St. Mary HS and graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park with a B.S. degree in International Business.
After graduation, Marcus went to work for his father and uncle in their garden center business for 5 years. Having worked at a golf course during high school and college, he became passionate about turf grass and led the garden center’s efforts to educate customers about how to grow “the best looking lawn in the neighborhood”. The turf grass bug is still with him today. Neighbors constantly ask “How do you get your lawn to look so good?”.
In early 2000, Marcus decided that he needed a new challenge and went to work for an electrical distributor. He soon found out that once you get into the electrical business, you become a “lifer”. Working for Branch Electric (which later became Rexel), Marcus soon found a passion for the industry. Being an avid learner, he spent countless hours researching and learning about electricity and lighting in order to become an expert in the field.
In 2001, Marcus met his bride-to-be, Cristina, though some mutual friends. As luck would have it, Cristina lived and worked in Manhattan. If the relationship was going to progress, someone would have to move. Since Cristina had a very good position as a group publisher for multiple magazines, Marcus picked up and moved to The Big City. Marcus and Cristina were married at Christmas time 2003.
In conjunction with the move to NYC, Marcus took a position as a regional sales manager for Lighting Control & Design which was based out of Los Angeles, CA. He was the company’s first regional manager East of the Mississippi River. His success at LC&D was driven by his desire to become a subject matter expert. Over the course of 2+ years, Marcus built out a full network of reps in his territory and spent countless hours travelling to teach his reps, their specifiers and their contractors on the many benefits that made LC&D superior to other lighting control systems.
Cristina and Marcus welcomed their first daughter in 2005. This life changing event initiated a move back to the Annapolis, MD area where the family settled in Arnold. Wanting to be a part of his children’s lives growing up, Marcus knew it was time to stop packing a suitcase every week and get off the road.
Marcus was able to parlay his electrical distributor experience and lighting controls expertise into a position as Lighting Control Department Manager at Federated Lighting, the leading manufacturer’s rep in the DC / Baltimore area. Over the course of the following 11 years, Marcus built a strong following amongst his colleagues, electrical distributors, electrical contractors, consulting engineers and lighting designers as a trusted advisor.
In 2016, Marcus seized an opportunity to combine his past 20 years of business experience and electrical industry knowledge by launching his own boutique manufacturer’s rep agency, DMV Associates, Inc. DMV Associates grew from representing one manufacturer (Crestron Commercial Lighting Controls) to 20 manufacturers over the course of the next 7 years. In 2019, Marcus brought on a business partner to aid in the growth of the company and in 2021, Marcus and his business partner expanded the agency footprint from the DC / Baltimore area northward to cover the Philadelphia market as well. As part of this expansion, they renamed the agency, Litehouse Solutions.
Litehouse Solutions was able to grow and become the 3rd largest Crestron Commercial Lighting agent in the country. The company became seen as marketplace leader and was entrusted with delivering numerous high-profile projects including Marriott International HQ, Ft. Meade East Campus Office Building, Peace Corps HQ and the new hanger for Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews.
In early 2022, Marcus and his business partner began to look for new opportunities where they could use their electrical industry experience and knowledge. They began to search for new market segments and landed on electric vehicle charging. Again after much study, they landed on an underserved niche within EV charging…short-term rentals! They surmised that if a person has an EV, they will probably have a charger at home. They also understood that federal government is putting a lot of money behind building out the high-speed charging network along highways so that segment is crowded with competition. Suddenly it dawned on them, there is a major lack of EV charging infrastructure at vacation destinations. Realizing that even if there is an EV charger close by, is the vacationer really going to want to drive to a charger and sit for an extended period of time? Of course not! The vacationer will want the convenience of being able to recharge their vehicle while they recharge themselves on vacation. With that ShoreCharge was born! Marcus and his business partner, became so convinced of the NEED for EV chargers at destinations that they closed shop on their successful manufacturer’s rep agency in order to dedicate themselves full-time to ShoreCharge.
Marcus, Cristina and their daughters currently reside in Arnold, MD
In his copious (NOT!) free time Marcus enjoys spending time with family, working in the yard and can occasionally be found on the golf course or bobbing around on the Chesapeake Bay.
