Husband and wife team James and Jenyse White parleyed their combined business experience, heroic work ethic, and dedication to customer satisfaction to grow Integrated Audio Video into Virginia’s only ELAN ELITE level dealer and the leading custom smart home authority in the Hampton Roads area.
If you’re not familiar with the area, Hampton Roads is home to more than 1.8 million residents and includes seven coastal Virginia cities: Chesapeake, Franklin, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg, as well as the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Southampton, Surry, and York.
James and Jenyse started IAV in Suffolk, VA about a decade ago along with their home integration partnership with the ELAN brand, but their first industry company began back in 1994 with a highly successful custom installation business in Florida. James is a Navy vet with years of experience in electronics technology (and loads of certifications to match) and Jenyse parlays her nearly three decades as a real estate professional to do the books as business manager.
Today they specify, recommend and install every item in the Nortek Control catalog, including ELAN control systems, SpeakerCraft and ELAN loudspeakers, Furman, and Panamax power conditioning products, Xantech state-of-the-art connectivity solutions, 2GIG security, and Gefen video distribution gear.
“We specialize in ELAN home control systems for good reasons,” says James. “We enjoy the ease of programming and reliability. ELAN products provide a stable platform, and we really like where they’re going with the product line.
“We like how the Nortek Control brands and robust portfolio of products play well together and deliver a user-friendly experience and uniform interface across all ELAN control devices from handheld remotes to luxury in-wall touch panels,” he continues.
A Premier Showroom on the Horizon
Around June, Integrated Audio Video is moving into a brand-new showroom. In the meantime, clients and potential customers can enjoy their website, which they designed, wrote, and created themselves. And their daughter-in-law is a very highly regarded professional wedding and outdoors photographer who lends her talented camerawork toward creating stunning images of their installations.
The only thing that might delay the grand opening of their new showroom is their busy schedule — and that’s a good thing. Over the past year with the pandemic, IAV completed about 25 jobs in the $150k to $300k price range. Although their specialty is high-end residences and commercial sites, their nimble business model also includes smaller jobs and investing in the future. For example, the company does contracted pre-wiring. Currently they are roughing in three to four houses per week; a high percentage of these will eventually become full-scale integration projects.
James and Jenyse tell us that for the year upcoming they anticipate approximately 35 large projects that scale more than $200k, and perhaps 150 average-size jobs.
One recent luxury residential project immediately comes to mind. The Swain residence, located in colonial Williamsburg, VA, is a 7000-square-foot residence that has been outfitted with products representing nearly every Nortek Control brand. One of the major reasons why ELAN control products were selected is rooted in “ELAN’s integration flexibility converging their control system with LED lighting and Lutron lighting and shade control,” says James.
The Swain residential project, not including the pool area which is slated for customization when warmer weather rolls around, cost about $350,000. The home features a distributed audio and video, dedicated home theater, sports bar, art lighting, and motorized TV in master bedroom among other luxury amenities.
Resimercial Expansion
In the commercial arena, IAV recently did renovation and integration work at the flagship location of the Surf Rider East Beach restaurant in Norfolk, VA. The project included TV control and outside/inside audio and cameras. IAV installed an ELAN control system, Luxul networking products, and Furman power conditioners. ELAN controllers were ideal for this commercial installation because the employees who use the system needed little training to fully operate all components. And off-premises access was a must for restaurant management.
The plan is to extend the same integration to the seven other restaurants in the Surf Rider chain, although the current pandemic crisis has placed final completion on hold for the time being.
From Land to Sea
No strangers to the sea, Integrated Audio Video implemented ELAN control systems, cameras, and controllers on a few fishing boats. Scaling up, they recently completed a 58-ft Viking Yacht ocean-worthy pleasure fishing vessel with a complete system of ELAN audio and video products, touch panels, handheld remotes, and cameras.
“ELAN control was a must for this large marine project,” says James. “First, I like ELAN’s traditional approach and unified user interface that offers the same consistent menu on all controllers. That means anyone can pick up a remote and make the system work. But above all that, we selected ELAN control because of the superb remote access—a vital ingredient for any successful marine installation project.”
As an ELAN ELITE dealer, Integrated Audio and Video has embraced not only most of the company’s brands and solutions for streamlined integration and support but has also participated in a Gary Sinise Foundation R.I.S.E. program installation, where vet James helped with an existing veteran’s home as well. Nortek Control has been a long-time supporter of the Gary Sinise Foundation wounded hero program for years, supplying audio, video, security, smart home controls and more.
Putting Customers First
Although Jenyse and James are looking forward to launching their exciting new showroom, they are incredibly happy helping their current customers and providing integration solutions. “Our customers come first,” says James. “That has made us number one. And our ongoing relationship with ELAN and the Nortek family of brands has helped us as we continue to forge ahead on our journey.”
