AVI Systems expanded its growing empire today with the official opening of its Atlanta office. This marks the fourth major city AVI has expanded into in the last 12 months, joining Chicago (through the acquisition of Magenium), San Francisco and Houston.
“The strategic intent of the expansion is, in part, client-driven,” according to the AVI Systems Atlanta announcement.
Several of AVI’s enterprise clients are either based in or expanding to the region. There are currently 18 Fortune 500 companies and 33 Fortune 1000 companies in Georgia alone, according to the press release.
“It’s a vibrant technical community that attracts future-forward companies and talent alike. That combination was extremely compelling as we continue to expand geography in the service of our enterprise clients,” said Jeff Stoebner, president and CEO of AVI Systems, in the announcement.
“It has been our ambition for several years to extend our presence to the east and southeast.”
AVI Systems remains one of the few AV integration firms that uses an employee stock ownership plan [ESOP] model, meaning all of its employees have also been owners and stakeholders in the success of the company since 2009. [related]
“This is more than a destination service office,” said Don Mastro, VP of sales at AVI Systems, in the press release. “Our clients have wanted a full-service systems integration operation in the Southeast. “With purpose, we will continue our expansion march to areas that present significant growth horizons.”
The AVI Systems Atlanta operation will be led by industry veteran Rick Landry, who brings 25 years of experience in the region to his new position.
Prior to joining AVI Systems, Landry was a senior project consultant for Waveguide. Before that, he spent 23 years with AVI-SPL, most recently as a regional VP in Atlanta. He was responsible for leading systems integration sales and operations organization for the region, which included Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Alyson Horn has also joined AVI’s team as regional sales manager, bringing more than 15 years of regional experience. Previously, Horn served as a regional director at Whitlock in Dallas. She also held several roles at AVI-SPL, where she was most recently a regional sales manager in Florida.
