Cross Company History – Automatic Controls
Automatic Controls was founded in 1983 as a Manufacturer’s Representative of process instrumentation and control valves by Gary Hicks in Knoxville, TN. Prior to founding Automatic Controls, Gary was the President of Stallings, Inc. in Atlanta, GA which was founded in 1953 as one of the earliest Manufacturer’s Representatives in the southeast. Gary’s desire to move back to his native East Tennessee led to the formation of Automatic Controls.
In January of 2000, Cross Company acquired Automatic Controls. That acquisition included 12 employees and annual sales of $5 Million. One of those employees was Jason Hicks, the current President of the Process Solutions Group. At the time of the acquisition, Automatic Controls was merged with System Components to form Cross Instrumentation. Both teams were existing representatives for Brooks Instrument which created a common emphasis on flow measurement technology. In 2020, Cross Instrumentation acquired Flow-Tech to expand coverage into Virginia and Maryland and shortly thereafter was merged with PCI, the legacy Innovative Controls business, to form the Process Solutions Group.
