Five years ago, there were legitimate questions about whether SVT would make it to its 56th year, let alone its 60th anniversary, which it’s celebrating in 2015.
Before president Josh Shanahan took over the business from his father Michael, he watched as company leaders moved heavily into managed services. That decision put two-thirds of SVT’s cash flow and 20 percent of its revenue in two Alabama gaming and entertainment facilities, both of which closed within weeks of each other in 2010 because new legislation forbid them.
As a sign that hangs in SVT’s headquarters declares, “A family business combines the most rational human institution — a business — with the most irrational human institution — the family.”
Shanahan has tried to create a culture at SVT that drives success.
“Our company focuses on not just employing the most qualified individual, but placing an employee in a position that best maximizes their potential,” he says. “We recognize that a talent-based organization must harvest a culture of accountability, self-motivation and passion to succeed. Our leadership begins and ends with each employee, and our success is ultimately a product of the passion our talent brings to each project.”
The last several years have certainly brought about happier times for SVT, including Shanahan’s inclusion on the first CI 40 Influencers Under 40 last year and SVT being among the top integrators in three vertical markets in the 2014 Industry Leaders.
The good times are, of course, punctuated by the 60th anniversary celebration. As part of the big 6-0, SVT is sending out swivelCards—premium USB-enabled paper business cards—to nearly 1,000 companies with whom they have interacted. When someone at those companies inserts the swivelCard into a computer or scans the QR code on their smartphones, it takes them to SVT’s website.
As part of the promotion, users will check the swivelCard on the first and third Fridays of the month, starting this week, until one company wins a free LED for their headquarters.
It’s yet another example of SVT’s constant effort to keep their customers happy, not just keep their customers at any cost.
