NSCA announced its 2024 Excellence in Business award recipients. “The challenges just keep coming, and NSCA is continually amazed at how integrators continue to overcome this chaos and adversity through innovation. This year, the Excellence in Business award nominations we received told great stories of success and perseverance. These companies act as real examples of what’s possible for all integrators,” said NSCA executive director Tom LeBlanc.
Winners are being recognized in six categories:
- Business Performance: Hyphn's (Portland, OR) Workplace Technology division (WPT) was established in 2019 and has grown to 40 employees. Four years later, in 2023, Hyphn launched a customizable service model backed by WPT that gives customers multiple service options to choose from. The company’s WPT Framework makes it easy to update processes as the business continues to grow. Since its development, team communication and cohesiveness, field execution, return trips, margin, gross profit, and commissioning and client network integration have increased across all product categories.
- Customer Experience: Parallel Technologies (Eden Prairie, MN) underwent a shift to prioritize the customer experience. After recognizing a disconnect between capabilities of implemented solutions and the clients’ ability to fully leverage them, a new role—client success manager—was created. To shape this role, the company engaged with clients to understand their challenges and reasons for underutilizing implemented security solutions. To measure success, new KPIs are used to track for customer satisfaction, system utilization, and business outcomes. So far, the results show stronger client satisfaction and more inclination to invest in advanced system sales and professional services.
- Differentiating Strategies: Fairchild Communication Systems (Indianapolis) needed a strategy to carry out the leadership team’s long-term plan to grow amid the challenge of finding additional qualified staff. During this time, it became evident that the current team needed to work more efficiently. To enable this—and to prepare for growth—the company upgraded to Q360 by Solutions360, an NSCA Business Accelerator. This allows staff to quickly track and analyze all aspects of the business and provides confidence to grow organically. Since then, the company has successfully purchased two firms, which has strengthened its corporate estimating, engineering, purchasing, and accounting teams so branch offices can focus on local customers.
- Employee Engagement: ET Group (Ontario, Canada) has made great strides and achievements to recover from poor leadership, employee burnout, high turnover, and financial uncertainty. Through innovative practices like self-management, self-set salaries, decentralized decision-making, and hybrid work models, employees now have a say in how they work as individuals and as a team. As a result of this vast improvement, ET Group received Great Place to Work certification in 2023, with 97% of team members stating that ET Group is a great place to work.
- Strategic Transformation: 5 North Media (San Diego, CA) expanded its portfolio of services and entered the integrated AV world. With guidance from NSCA, the team implemented solutions from Solutions360 and D-Tools to grow the business while continuing to operate its recurring-revenue model. These tools accelerated the average project from $10,000 to $250,000. The company also trained its technical staff to meet the needs of the new clients. In 2022, the company was awarded a $5 million AV contract for the Gaylord Pacific Hotel and Convention Center—a feat that would not have been possible without the proper foundation.
- Talent Development: Texadia Systems (Addison, TX) fosters an environment where employees are not only empowered to carve out their own career paths, but also recognized for their strengths and potential. Company leaders take time to understand each employee’s capabilities and how to leverage them to guide their professional journeys. An emphasis is also placed on helping employees develop new skills. For example, the tech leaders running projects in the field wanted training on communication, budgets, and interaction—so Texadia Systems made it happen. To continue to nurture talent, the company also focuses on introducing the younger generation to the industry through community outreach, employee referrals, collaborations with colleges and trade schools, and increased engagement with high schools.
