CCS Presentation Systems, No. 7 on the 2020 SCN Top 50 list, turns 30 years old on June 25, 2021. Beginning as a two-person operation in 1991, CCS now has more than 350 employees nationwide, and annual revenue across the CCS group tops $160 million.
In 1991, after moving nine times for his previous job with IBM, John Godbout and his wife Beth decided that they wanted to set down roots in Phoenix, AZ. In the process, they laid the foundation for a small audiovisual company that eventually become one of the top AV integrators in the nation.
“We are thrilled that after so many years in business we continue to grow and thrive,” said CCS founder and CEO John Godbout. “This is a relationship business, not just between you and your employees, but among other companies, between manufacturing partners. Your relationships with those people are absolutely important.”
CCS Through the Years
1991–CCS made $59,000 in revenue its first year, and—against the odds—kept pushing into 1992. Annual revenue across the CCS group now tops $160M.
1995–CCS opened its first partner office in Texas. It has now grown to 11 regional partners with 28 offices, covering 40 states.
1998–CCS launched its online division, ProjectorSuperstore.com to keep up with demand and reach more customers across the country.
2000–A strong education advocate, CCS created a contest with Proxima to award local educators who effectively integrated technology into their classrooms. Seventy applicants and four winners later, thus began a pattern of support for educational innovation.
2002–Seeing the need for full-service design and installation, CCS created its Integration division, CIS. There are currently over 50 design and field engineers and more than 100 installation technicians nationwide.
2005–CCS created the CCS Training Center model and subsequently the CCS Mobile Training Center, a 44 ft, long converted race-car hauler that traveled to schools across the country training educators.
2006–CCS began CCS University, an internship program for current high school students to educate and train new installation technicians with courses taught by CCS Integration staff. Successful candidates received a job offer after completion.
2009–CCS built their CCS Manufacturer Product Showcase, allowing customers to view and interact with AV solutions prior to purchase. This set a standard for how CCS displays new AV products to educators, businesses, and other clients.
2010–CCS rolled out a series of AV designs aimed at small business so that even those starting out could afford practical solutions that supercharged collaboration, sales, and productivity.
2012–CCS started Tech Now, Pay Later, a privately financed program that gave education customers the option to split their overall payments over multiple years. This allowed schools to focus on increasing student engagement rather than finding ways to pay for it.
2013–CCS’ approach to partnership now gave it a national footprint but with the benefit of local customer service. CCS vets all prospective partners for six months, and once the process is complete and they are deemed a good fit, support is given to the newest partner with trust they will return on that investment and grow the brand.
2017–CCS hosted the VT3 back to school contest for Arizona schools. It received over 500,000 votes in six weeks from people across the state voting for their school to win the prize of a high-tech classroom fitted with the latest AV products and services.
2020–CCS is considered an essential business during the COVID-19 pandemic. It continued operations and services for its customers when hundreds of other businesses shut down.
