What took them so long?
AudioVisions, the No. 14 company on the 2015 CE Pro 100 list and a leading custom installation firm for 26 years, has joined its first buying group by signing on with the Home Technology Specialists of America (HTSA).
Based in Lake Forest, Calif., AudioVisions has four locations (Bay Area, L.A. and Palm Springs in addition to Orange Country) and reported $12.5 million in revenue in 2014 performing 95 residential installations with 67 employees.
AudioVisions is one of an initial wave of new dealers in the process of joining the organization since executive director Jon Robbins rejoined the group that he helped launch 20 years ago. Robbins replaces former managing director Bob Hana, who has left the group to focus his energies on a private charity he separately founded.
In addition to naming a new executive director, HTSA also recently announced a new Board of Directors. The combination of these changes in strategic management and oversight has instilled a new sense of energy and momentum in the group. This new momentum was, in part, cited as one of the reasons why AudioVisions chose to join HTSA.
“First and foremost, what attracted us to HTSA was the quality of their members,” says Mark Hoffenberg, co-founder of AudioVisions. “We desire to work collaboratively with the best companies and the brightest leaders in the industry, and many of them are in HTSA. But equally important, we believe that HTSA is in the midst of a powerful resurgence and we wanted to be a part of that.”
Launched in 1989 by co-founders Mark Hoffenberg and Bob Walpert, AudioVisions has a honed business process and also created integration-specific software that ultimately was adopted by a significant percentage of custom installers and integrators throughout the industry. The company recently inked deal with D-Tools to collaborate on software.
In 2005, AudioVisions was acquired by Best Buy and run as a separate entity. Hoffenberg remained president of AudioVisions, continuing to run day-to-day operations, while simultaneously serving as a vice president within Best Buys' Services organization. In 2014, the management team of AudioVisions re-acquired the company from Best Buy and is now a wholly-owned independent integration business.
“We are extremely pleased to welcome AudioVisions into the HTSA family,” adds Robbins. “Mark and his team have a high standard of professionalism and like all HTSA members are able to effortlessly step customers up to high-performance products. HTSA is strengthened by the addition of AudioVisions – as AudioVisions will be strengthened by participating in the sharing of best practices with other HTSA members.”
