sharp`s av - The Canadian Business Journal

SHARP’S AV
www.sharpsav.com
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • Sharp’s Audio Visual
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SH
Audi
FEBRUARY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
CB
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES
HARP’S
AV
io Visual Visionary
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • Sharp’s Audio Visual
FEBRUARY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
Sharp’s Audio Visual has come a long way
in its 88 years in business. What began as a
company showing Laurel and Hardy movies
across small town Alberta grew into an
Audio Visual giant with multi-million dollar
installation projects. This month, CBJ sits
down with President Jeff Faber and VicePresident of Sales and Marketing Tim St. Louis
to discuss the business and its recent success.
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • Sharp’s Audio Visual
SHARP’S AV SELLS, rents and installs AV equip-
Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, and Whistler. The
ment for events, meetings, conferences and
size and reach of the company, according to Fa-
other venues. The business model is comprised
ber, is part of what keeps it competitive. “We are
of two components: about 10 per cent of the
one of the largest, if not the largest, AV integra-
business comes from its rentals and staging
tors in Canada, so we are able to take on a lot of
group and 90 per cent of revenue comes from
bigger projects.” Faber explains that the scope of
its sales and installation group. “We have a very
the AV industry has changed, resulting in bigger
broad client-base,” explains Faber. “We do a lot
budgets and more extensive projects. “Even five
of work in education, both K-12 and post-second-
years ago, a $100,000 job was a nice size job—
ary. We also work in government, military, and do
and today that is still is a nice size job—but we
a fair amount of work in corporate Canada.” This
are starting to play in million-dollar or multi-mil-
diverse client base is perhaps one of the reasons
lion dollar size projects. We are currently working
that the company has been quite successful is
on a $4.5 million project.”
cornering the market.
The merger
A major moment for the business came in 2008,
when Sharp’s AV merged with Apex AVSI, another
major AV company in Calgary, subsequently
garnering the dominant market share in the city.
It was this merger that brought both Faber and
St. Louis into the operation from Apex AVSI. “Tim
and I bought [Apex] and later merged it with
Sharp’s,” explains Faber. “The merger was a very
important part of growth and success.”
“These big projects never used
to exist. Technology is becoming
much more important to the
business enterprise. Whether it is
an oil company, a manufacturing
company, education or higher
education, [audio visual] technology
is being used and relied upon more
and more…it is becoming like the
TV or the computer in that it is an
important business tool, a necessity.”
And growth and success it undoubtedly has
experienced. Today the company has locations
Current projects
all across Canada—in Calgary, Banff, Edmonton,
St. Louis speaks excitedly of a number of
Halifax, Lethbridge, Montreal, Regina, Saskatoon,
current projects underway. One in particular
FEBRUARY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • Sharp’s Audio Visual
with the University of Calgary involves the Taylor
tors of SMART board technology—an interactive
Family Digital Library. “We are outfitting the en-
whiteboard used heavily in education and increas-
tire digital library with AV equipment, both in the
ingly in business. “You walk up to it and your finger
common areas and all other areas…as well as
becomes the mouse,” St. Louis explains. “We have
[installing] meeting room technology. It will be a
an ongoing project with the Calgary Board of
state-of-the-art facility—as far as I know there is
Education where we are supplying and installing
nothing like it in Alberta or anywhere else in the
a large percentage of classrooms with SMART
rest of Western Canada.”
board technology.” By project completion, August
Sharp’s AV is also one of the largest distribu-
2011, Sharp’s AV will have installed several thou-
FEBRUARY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
sand SMART boards into Calgary classrooms.
The company has experienced a very suc-
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ond part, but that is definitely over and behind
us and business levels are back very strongly
cessful period of growth since 2008, despite an
again.” Sharp’s AV has its eye on expansion into
economic downturn. Last year it opened offices in
several key markets where it does not yet have a
Montreal and Quebec City and, the year prior, in
presence, notably Regina and Ottawa.
Halifax. “What we have done is taken advantage of
business opportunities in those markets and then
Green initiatives
leveraged those opportunities to open up opera-
Sharp’s AV also has plans to increase its green
tions in those locations,” explains Faber. Expansion
initiatives and recently established a green
during the recent economic downturn is without a
committee to investigate further how the busi-
doubt a testament to the strength of the business.
ness could engage in more green practices.
“We kind of lagged the downturn,” says Fa-
“We are trying to take that initiative to the next
ber. “We stayed strong during the first part of [the
level,” states St. Louis, using the example of
recession] and weakened slightly during the sec-
the promotion of video conferencing. “We are a
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PRODUCTS & SERVICES • Sharp’s Audio Visual
FEBRUARY 2011 • The Canadian Business Journal
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large proponent of video conferencing, not only
to help consumers reduce their carbon emissions but also [to help reduce] ours. We communicate with our offices very efficiently using
video conference.”
Sharp’s AV has a long history in the Audio
Visual sector. From the early days of small town
theatres to the complex presentation systems of
today, the company has consistently proven itself
to be a smart, strategic market leader. In a world
where presentation technology is becoming the
everyday, Sharp’s AV is surely set for a bright and
prosperous future. CB
WWW.SHARPSAV.COM
AS SEEN IN THE FEBRUARY 2011 ISSUE
OF THE CANADIAN BUSINESS JOURNAL