MES Life Safety appointed longtime board member Eric Crawford as Chief Financial Officer, bringing an executive who has helped shape the company’s acquisition and capital strategy since 2021 into an operating leadership role. Crawford joined MES as CFO effective September 1, 2026.
He previously served as a Managing Director and Investment Committee member at Platte River Equity.
Crawford helped lead Platte River Equity’s acquisition of MES in 2021.
Since then, he has helped guide 17 add-on acquisitions and two divestitures involving MES.
Those transactions expanded the company’s geographic footprint, product and service portfolio, industry exposure, and balance sheet.
As CFO, Crawford will oversee finance, accounting, information technology, treasury, risk management, and mergers and acquisitions.
He will report directly to CEO Marvin Riley and work with the management team on capital allocation and broader corporate strategy.
Crawford succeeds John Walker, who has become EVP of Transformation.
Walker will now lead initiatives supporting MES’s enterprise development.
Crawford has more than 15 years of private equity and investment banking experience.
He has served on five corporate boards and worked on more than 40 transactions with a combined value exceeding $5.5 billion.
Before joining Platte River Equity in 2010, he worked as an investment banker at Jefferies.
He will remain a member of the MES board and will be based in Denver.
KEY QUOTES:
“Eric brings an exceptional combination of financial expertise, strategic judgment, and analytical thinking. He has been a key architect of our acquisition and growth strategy, and his leadership will be invaluable as we enter our next phase of growth.”
Marvin Riley, CEO of MES Life Safety
“I’m honored to partner with Marvin and the MES team as we invest in our people, capabilities, and footprint to build a category-defining company in worker safety.”
Eric Crawford, CFO of MES Life Safety
