Sound & Communications February 2009 Issue

Swimming in SuccessBlueWater Technologies seeks, and delivers, the best of AV.Clearly, this isn’t your typical university setting. BlueWater poured $3 million worthof AV into a new college campus, including eye-grabbing videowalls.Dan Ferrisi is Sound & Communications’ Associate Editor.By Dan FerrisiThe audiovisual industry encompassesa broad range of systemsintegration firms, some of whichseek to carve out a niche (such assound reinforcement for houses ofworship, for example) and some ofwhich draw strength from the expansivenessof their offerings. SouthfieldMI-based BlueWater Technologies(BWT) very much fits into the secondcategory. Although the companyis involved in live event rental andstaging, the bulk of its business(roughly 65%) relates to commercialfixed-install systems integration, withan accent on projects of great technicalcomplexity.Founded in 1985, the company hasabout 120 employees and achieved2008 revenues of about $35 million.Its headquarters includes a 57,500-square-foot facility with more than$3 million in equipment inventory.BWT has established branch officesin Grand Rapids MI; Columbus OH;Northwest OH; Dallas TX; ClevelandOH; Mesick MI; and, soon, theChicago IL area. According to directorof integration Jim Crowley, CTS,BlueWater sells its enviable intellectualproperty, as opposed to piling upcookie-cutter “hang and bangs.” Thetheme is potent: Supplying solutions,not equipment.At its inception, the companyfocused on providing rental equipmentto hotels, along with occasionallyrunning and staging that gear.However, along with the change ofdecade, the ’90s brought rapid technologicalprogression, which inviteda realignment of business strategy.According to Crowley, “With theemergence of flat panels and highbrightnessprojectors, corporationsfinally found a way to get away fromthe older technology and go withsomething electronic that thingscould be hooked into.”And, perhaps in a departure fromconventional strategy, once BlueWaterembraced systems integration,it sought high-end, high-marginprojects. “[We integrate] everythingfrom training rooms to very elaborateboardrooms and visualization systems,”he said, accentuating commandand control and videowalls, as well.With respect to vertical markets,Crowley cited corporate as the biggestpiece of the pie, a categorywhose 45% to 50% encompassesmanufacturing, financial, healthcareand other sub-segments: “Anybodywho has a boardroom, conferenceroom or training room,” Crowleysummarized. Education is the secondlargest component, with strict concentrationon higher education. “Wedon’t get involved with much K-12work,” he said. “There are too manypeople chasing it….You have networkcompanies trying to be AV dealersand AV dealers trying to be networkcompanies. We didn’t really want tobe part of that group.”Illustrating the caliber of work forwhich BlueWater Technologies aims,Crowley cited a current universityproject, involving $3 million worthof audiovisual, which, at the time ofwriting, was a month from completion.“It is for a new college on the34 Sound & Communicationswww.soundandcommunications.com