Annese expects to relocate local office to aid growth

Company generated $66.9 million in revenue in 2012

SALINA — Annese & Associates, Inc. could soon be looking for new space in the Syracuse area.

The firm, which installs and maintains video, voice, and data networks, has been adding more services to its offerings in recent years. The move has been driving growth companywide and in Central New York.

Annese is nearly out of room at its 3,700-square-foot office on Elwood Davis Road in Salina. The firm’s lease at its current office is up in the next 12 months and the company expects to begin looking for a new, larger location in the Syracuse area.

The company plans to look for around 5,000 square feet, says Christina Nordquist, a spokeswoman for Annese. The firm will probably add two to three new employees in Central New York in the next year and about five companywide.

Current and expected growth in Annese’s services businesses is sparking the hiring, Nordquist says. The firm employs 100 people total and 30 in its Salina office.

The Central New York office is Annese’s second largest after its headquarters in Clifton Park and includes employees in sales, services, operations, marketing, human resources, and information technology.

Annese generated $66.9 million in revenue in 2012, up from $63.7 million in 2011 and $53 million in 2010.

The company recently shifted its sales strategy from a focus on its technology products to its services, Nordquist adds. The firm has focused its services offerings in two areas.

Its collaboration focus includes services like video conferencing, digital signage, voice, messaging, and more. Its data center specialty includes services like desktop and server virtualization, disaster preparedness, storage, and backup.

Annese is not leaving its product business behind, Nordquist notes. The change in strategy just means the company will lead with its services first, she explains.

“It’s not like anything is going away,” she says. “It’s just more focused and there’s more clarity around what our expertise is.”

It’s something customers have been seeking, she adds. Clients no longer want a company that will just sell them a piece of hardware and then walk away.

Customers are looking for an organization that can support them with expertise for the long term, Nordquist says.

Annese has clients in higher education, K-12 schools, government, the commercial sector, and health care. The firm has additional offices in Buffalo, Herkimer, Chester, Rochester, Binghamton, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.

The firm also opened an office in Brewster last year and is chasing more business in the New York City area, says Steve Heath, Annese’s vice president of sales. He says he’d like to add more sales reps there as well as in Central New York.

And while the company is focusing more on its services offerings, its product business will continue to be important, Heath says. Annese got its start working in telephony, a business need now largely handled through data centers, he notes.

“That’s an ever-changing environment,” he says. “It’s critical that all that is tied together.”

Annese was founded in 1970. The firm’s founder, Frank Annese, retired at the end of 2008. Ray Apy, who had been with Annese since 1998, took over as president and CEO.

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