TSAV EARNS "ROCK STAR" STATUSAWARD - WINNING TSAV A REFLECTION OF ATHENS
By CHRIS STARRS - NEWS@ONLINEATHENS.COM - published Saturday, March 21, 2015
Pete Dugas, president of Athens-based TSAV, did not take pause to celebrate earlier this week when his company was one of seven firms named Small Business Rock Stars by the Georgia Department of Economic Development and the Georgia Economic Developers Association.
“We don’t have a lot of time to slow down for much,” Dugas (pronounced do-gah) said on Thursday.
In fact, Dugas — who founded TSAV in Athens in 1991 — wasn’t even at the awards luncheon held Monday in Atlanta because he was too busy doing business elsewhere. But he pronounced himself pleased with the recognition.
“My first question was, ‘Well, what does that mean?’” Dugas quipped. “Knowing who is bestowing that honor made it pretty startling, actually. I was amazed to be included in the group being considered, but to actually be part of the winners was amazing. We must be doing something right.”
These days, it seems TSAV, which stands for Technical Services Audio Video, is doing quite a bit right — all around the world. The technology systems integration company, which also has offices in Atlanta and Macon, has a diverse roster of fascinating high-tech projects, providing support in the fields of education, justice, athletics, communications and transportation, to name but a few.
Dugas says the most notable projects in which TSAV is presently involved include an aircraft initiative for the U.S. Marine Corps, evidence presentation and video arraignment systems for several courthouses, work for the Federal Reserve, and work at the University of West Georgia as well as at the new facilities of UGA’s Terry College of Business.
And the company has a lengthy list of completed and ongoing projects that include the upgraded audio system at Sanford Stadium (and similar systems at Foley Field and in Stegeman Coliseum), the sound system at the Auburn Arena. Overseas in Saudi Arabia, TSAV is rendering a host of services in the development of the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology and for Thuwal, the city that surrounds the institute.
With about 60 employees, TSAV has four core capacities: design consultation, systems integration (which also often encompasses design and construction), a support agency and as a research and development resource.
“We develop products that fit in a market where there isn’t a product that does that,” Dugas said. “It’s tying together disparate systems, ranging from how you remotely manage a video conferencing system to building power and mechanical systems and making those things talk, or developing a system for recording lectures or presentations and making that content available online.”
The Morris News Service reported earlier this week that TSAV was one of seven companies selected by a panel of judges among five dozen nominees throughout Georgia. Criteria for the award dictates that a company can have no more than 100 employees, must demonstrate innovative marketing and have utilized assistance from state and federal agencies.
Dugas, who studied classical guitar, English and acoustical physics at Mercer University, spent several years on the road playing music and also has an interest in an artist management and publishing business in Nashville, says his company’s success is due to his employees.
“I can’t talk enough about how amazing the people I work with are,” he said. “There’s not a single person in my company that I don’t enjoy being around. That’s true across the board within the organization. We have an amazing group of people who are truly reflective of Athens.”
TSAV was also highlighted by Atlanta Tech Edge during a news segment of theirs this past weekend (around minute 2:20 in the video seen here).
