FORTÉ Signs Agreement to Acquire North Carolina-Based AVCON
With the Addition of AVCON, FORTÉ Further Establishes Its Presence and Ability to Serve Customers throughout the Southeast United States
MINNEAPOLIS / RALEIGH – Jan. 6, 2025 – FORTÉ today announced it will acquire Cary, N.C.-based AVCON, a systems integration firm that designs, installs and maintains audio, visual and lighting technologies to companies, houses of worship and other organizations. The acquisition includes transitioning all AVCON employees to FORTÉ and will close on Jan. 15, 2025.
"AVCON's founder, Frank Yarborough, has built an incredible company with a stellar reputation for audiovisual design and support," said Jeff Stoebner, CEO of FORTÉ. "The alignment between FORTÉ and AVCON is quite remarkable in that both organizations strive to be a trusted advisor to each customer we serve. I look forward to having Frank and his team become employee-owners at FORTÉ and help us continue our growth trajectory."
AVCON got its start in 1997 when Yarborough created the business with his vision to be the best audiovisual systems integrator in the Southeast. He focused on building a team of experts who share in a commitment to understand each customer's goals, vision and environment – and to guarantee a successful outcome with each engagement.
"What's made AVCON great is our individual relationships with our customers – from the sales team to the expert installers who represent us on site," said Yarborough. "That's why I'm so excited about joining FORTÉ. Our two entities strive to always do what's best for the customer, and that's a market-leading differentiator."
Since 2022, FORTÉ has established itself in several new markets in the Eastern United States including Massachusetts, New York, Washington, D.C., and most recently Tennessee and Florida. When the acquisition of AVCON is finalized, FORTÉ will maintain the office location to serve customers in North and South Carolina as well as Southern Virginia. FORTÉ will have 1,300 professionals across 41 U.S. locations. The company also serves as the Regional Business Unit in the United States for GPA – which enables FORTÉ to serve large, multi-national organizations that have operations around the world.
