People Over Products—A 40-Year Passion
From the start of Audio Enhancement, the focus has been on people, not products. Claudia Anderson founded the company as a result of her focus on helping her two hard-of-hearing sons succeed in school. She pioneered the concept of sound amplification in the classroom which enhanced learning for students in schools across the country. Today, her son and the company’s CEO, Jeff Anderson, continues to run the company centered on people and how Audio Enhancement can help them.
Audio Enhancement started when Jeff was ten years old. When asked about those early years, he said, “I remember my mom working from home and talking to schools about equipment that could help kids hear better in classrooms.” Claudia would spend time in her home office educating people on classroom amplification and how it would help students. “People didn’t know what it was,” he said. “People didn’t know why they needed it.”
A Family-run Business
From the start, Audio Enhancement was a family business. Jeff remembers the family pitching in, even before they really understood how they were contributing. Their mom would show them how to stuff envelopes to send out invoices or pack boxes for shipping. “We didn’t really fully comprehend what we were doing but we did comprehend that we were just helping [our mom] with something that she was doing,” he said.
Forty years later, Audio Enhancement remains family-run and educator-inspired. Jeff and his three siblings bought the business in 2008, and all four continue to work together. They still innovate new technology and products in response to requests from educators. Instead of designing products, giving them to the sales staff and telling educators it’s a good idea, they take a different route. Jeff said, “We ask [the educators], listen to them very carefully, and then we design around them.” This approach led to the development of SAFE System™, VIEWpath®, and EPIC System™. It continues to lead their innovations department as they develop future products.
It’s All About the People
With all the accomplishments of 40 years of business, one of the greatest for Jeff is maintaining great customer relationships. Working with educators every year to supply schools with technology that helps students learn continues the legacy started by Claudia Anderson. Another achievement he’s proud of is the positive company culture they have built. They focus on fostering an environment where people will enjoy where they work and who they get to work with.
For the Anderson Family, business is all about the people.
