Midwest Sound and Lighting started with regional acts before opening its doors to the political arena.
John Rogers, marketing specialist for Midwest Sound and Lighting, knows that one of the reasons Midwest Sound and Lighting has been around since 1979 is because of the company’s dedication to simply getting the job done.
“We always talk about having cutting-edge technology with a Midwestern work ethic,” he says. “Of course, we’ve got all sorts of new gear, but the real important stuff still hasn’t changed. It’s still about relationships; there is still a voice on the phone or in front of you that cares or knows what to do and is motivated to make it right. That’s what keeps our doors open and our phones ringing.”
The phones at the Omaha, Neb.-based company started to ring in 1979 when the company’s founder, John Kanuth, would load up his van with a Biamp 2442 console, a handful of Dukane speakers and Altec 9440 amps. John started the company with an eye toward servicing the town’s bands as well as some regional acts.
“John had a band in high school, so he had a passion for making sound better,” Rogers says. “He started with humble beginnings and then would acquire a few more amps, a little more bottom end as Midwest was just a fledging company doing local work.”
Political Payday
That fledgling company spent the early ‘80s building a reputation for service and dependability before being tapped to start handling event production for Nebraska’s governor at the time, Charles Thone. It was an interesting move. “You go where you see a void,” Rogers states, “where there’s work to be done. The gig with Governor Thone opened doors into the political arena and the work that could be had in the political and corporate world.”
Midwest has remained active in the political world ever since, including the 1988 vice presidential debate with Dan Quayle and Lloyd Bentsen. (It was during that debate that Senator Bentsen retorted, “I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy!”) More recently, the company provided sound services for Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential primary season.
Midwest also continued to build its music clientele list from local bands to country legend Tammy Wynette to some of today’s hottest acts when they come through town. The company’s production department has grown to service local theater companies and acts that come through the state and county fairs.
In addition, Midwest pros are working at corporate events for companies like ConAgra Foods, Mutual of Omaha, Berkshire Hathaway and Omaha Steaks. “There are people that we’ve worked for time and time again,” Rogers reports. “So, if they have a convention in Miami Beach or San Diego, we put our stuff in trucks and go. Obviously, there are sound companies in those areas, but we think we spoil them enough with our service and hands-on detail that they hire us.”
Midwest’s gear collection has grown from a Biamp console, Dukane speakers and Altec amps that Kanuth used in the early years. These days they rely on Yamaha PM5D and M7CL consoles, EAW KF750 and 755 speakers, Crown Macrotech amps and more to pull off shows. “It’s not anything that’s overly sexy or unusual,” Rogers says.
Multiple Streams
Beyond production services, the company’s two offices (an office in Omaha opened in 1983) offer equipment repair and rental, design and installation and sales. The multiple revenue streams, Rogers states, help ensure that the company will continually be in the black.
In addition to its secular design and installation work — including the largest community theater in the nation, Omaha Community Playhouse, where they have supplied audio, wireless and lighting installations — Midwest became known for their work in houses of worship. “We were careful to respect the sacred nature of the churches and to not change them into looking like sound stores,” Rogers explains.
Based on that success, the company held a pair of technology and worship conferences that brought together churches of all sizes and equipment designers and manufacturers. “We had seminars on acoustics and mixing to try to educate the house-of-worship market as to why just a garden variety sound system might not be their best choice,” Rogers says.
The future of Midwest includes the growth of all five channels, reports Rogers, with special attention to remaining profitable. “In this ever-more price driven climate, especially with the high cost of diesel when we talk about road shows and taking our production rig on the road, it’s ever tougher to stay profitable,” he says. “There are people out there that will go for that low-dough bid where you might not get what you hoped for, but the number looks better, and sometimes that is the driving factor. Pleasing the customer has to stay job one, but job two is staying profitable.”
The company’s Nebraska location, it turns out, has helped Midwest Sound and Lighting in this area. “We enjoy a couple luxuries that may be the higher concentrations on the coasts don’t,” Rogers explains. “While we probably didn’t enjoy the height of the bubble and boom that happened some years ago to buoy everybody up, I don’t think we’ve hit the bottom of the trough that those areas have had, too. It’s kind of like having a compressor on our business.”
