Advanced Business Equipment: 40 years of business support
Advanced Business Equipment (ABE) celebrates 40 years of serving the WNC community this year. Advanced Business Equipment’s goal is to be your single source technology solution—one provider, one phone call. They also offer custom solutions based on your organization’s needs, all with the tenet, “The last thing you need, is technology you don’t need.”
ABE launched in 1981 selling top-of-the-line technology of the times: typewriters, copiers, fax machines and calculators! Located in the Oak Forest Shopping Center on Hendersonville Rd, ABE had just four employees. In 1992, they transferred to their current location on Sweeten Creek Road, expanding yet again in 2000 and adding a second wing to their facilities. In 2010, they opened an office in Greenville, SC.
With a mission of providing leading-edge technologies, it’s no surprise that the products and services ABE offers have evolved with technology. ABE’s current offerings run from office multifunction printers, scanners, workstations, and finishing equipment such as cutters, shredders and folders.
In 2013, they began their IT branch, Advanced Information Services, offering managed network services, enterprise content management, backup & disaster recovery, hosted email & web filtering, phone/VoIP solutions, mobile device management and more. ABE also now offers an FDA-approved thermal temperature scanner, aiding businesses and organizations in their efforts to fight the pandemic, protect employees and visitors, and stay open.
ABE is a second generation, family-run business founded by Harry Jackson in 1981. Harry’s son Kevin began working at ABE in 2002, joining the sales team and learning the ropes before taking over as Sales Manager for a few years. In 2008, when Harry retired, Kevin took over as CEO/President.
“I work towards a legacy of being a valued part of our community,” Kevin said. “As a business, we can only be as strong and successful as the community in which we live, and I take pride in the many businesses we have helped grow and succeed in WNC over the years with advice and expertise geared to their needs.”
That’s a legacy Kevin hopes to pass on. His daughter Avery joined ABE as a summer intern in 2019 and 2020 to learn the family business. “It brings me great pride in seeing her develop different skills as she begins her journey to college. My hope is that these opportunities prepare Avery with a diverse knowledge of business acumen prior to college to give her an opportunity to pursue what she feels is best for her long term regardless of what career path she decides. The thought of her taking over as the third generation one day would be a dream come true, but I want it to be her dream also.”
“We have been blessed over the years during various economic downtowns and now during this pandemic, with business remaining strong,” Kevin said. “My heart goes out to those who have lost their business or lost the opportunity to pass their legacy on to their children.”
What was the biggest hurdle ABE has had to overcome? “A year ago my answer would have been quite different, but I’d have to say overcoming the challenges of the pandemic as an essential business: making the overnight leap to aid customers in a swift and secure transition to work-from-home office operations; quickly finding a solution to help businesses stay open, such as the FDA-approved thermal temperature scanner OneScreen GoSafe; offering unified communication—indispensable for remote employees; and remote (local) tech support.”
What’s next? Kevin said, “2020 and the pandemic brought about profound changes to the way many companies do business, and we will continue to adapt our technology to whatever lies ahead, working to have a positive impact on the success of our customers.”