Banking Partnership Proves Critical at Key Points to Technology Firm's Growth
A conversation with Kurt Canova, President, Tech Electronics
Tech Electronics
Business Snapshot
Tech Electronics is a technology services organization with a network of 9 offices. The company specializes in life safety and communication systems in the education, healthcare, construction, government, commercial-industrial, SMB, and worship industries, designing solutions to fit each site’s unique layout and priorities.
Business Leader
Kurt Canova, President
Headquarters
St. Louis, MO
What are the biggest challenges you face as a business?
Years ago, we set out to become a leading regional technology services company. To do this, we needed to expand the services we offer and the geographic footprint we served. Today the biggest challenge we face is seamlessly anticipating and meeting client needs. To remain competitive, our top priority is creating a company that showcases to prospects how we support people like them while providing best-in-class ongoing service to our clients.
How did Enterprise help solve these challenges?
From the moment I switched to Enterprise 18 years ago, I haven’t looked back. At the time our EBITDA wasn’t as strong as it is today but they made clear they were here to be our partner rather than impersonal banker, which I had experienced before.
Years later when our first acquisition looked likely, some of the due diligence I received from a consultant was so detailed and technical it was difficult to interpret. My banker Steve broke down the numbers in an easy-to-use way and discussed it relative to our cash position, which gave me a clearer picture. An acquisition years later ended up proving essential to establishing the competitive advantage. But when we were considering it, some of our advisors were a bit uneasy because it was different from any of those preceding it. I again give credit to Enterprise. They took the time to dig into the nature of it and once they did, they stood behind us like they always do.
Part of our long-term vision has been to have all of our employees under one roof and a state-of-the-art showroom. When we pitched this concept to Enterprise, they saw the value and stepped up to finance our soon-to- be new headquarters in Sunnen Business Park.
What is the impact to your business?
At the end of the day, the most important thing we do at our company is build and maintain relationships with our clients. It is hard-wired into our culture and is the same at Enterprise. Having a strategic planning partner that is patient and curious with the same values as us is invaluable.
