Cory’s is celebrating 70 years of success in the rental and staging market this year. We recently sat down with Brad Poarch, Cory’s CEO, to discuss the company’s evolution and its plans for the future.

rAVe [PUBS]: Congrats on 70 years! Can you give us the short version of the Cory’s origin story?

BRAD POARCH: Thank you! Our story started in 1953 as Cory’s Motion Picture Equipment with my grandfather. Cory’s began as a rental company for film projectors and sound. Quickly, the company began to sell equipment to movie theaters as well. From there, Cory’s Motion Picture Company designed and programmed advanced, custom installations with film and slide projection. The next generation of ownership under Cory’s Audio Visual Services was my uncle, Joseph A. Cory, who added to our rental and installation services, which became an important part of the event space in Oklahoma.Then in 2012, the third generation of my cousin John Cory and myself took over, Cory’s elevated our services into large-scale event production, in-house event support, large-format installations, and service to help clients with issues related to AV. In recent years, we added a new (unrelated) owner, Britt Gotcher, to the mix. Britt is a driving force for innovation and business development with the Cory’s brand.

Looking back at the history, you can certainly see how we have developed into full-service AV and every generation of the company has contributed to that wide variety of services.

rAVe [PUBS]: It’s obviously been a long journey with lots of changes, but what are some of the major ways the company has evolved in the past 70 years?

BP: I would say that the most major evolutions for us have centered around what our clients require in their own growth process. We are proud to say that many of our clients have been with us for decades. As their teams and technology needs grow and change, we evolve to fit their needs alongside them. It is clear to see that each generation of our company has added services that fit the times, but I am proud to look back and know that those evolutions were all client-centered in the spirit of partnership. In the world of AV service companies, we have a rare evolution in our history that makes Cory’s unique. Through the generations of fulfilling our clients’ needs, we grew two separate service lines in “temporary” AV services like live events and rental paired with the “permanent” services including installed, integrated systems plus a service team to support those systems. Many times, other AV service companies evolve into one or the other. Having both certainly has served us well through the pandemic, but has also made us a true partner to our client base in all things related to AV.

rAVe [PUBS]: In the past, we’ve chatted about how your employees are the core of your business. How do you continually evolve internally to keep your team happy?

BP: I have this saying.. “All AV companies have access to the same technology. The only difference is our people.” The people behind the services make all the difference in innovation, in the drive for growth, in providing value to our clients through relationships, etc. As we grow, we never lose sight of the family-centric feel that was started with my actual family. We do that through being flexible with our schedules, putting our own families first, and treating our team like their contributions at work are equal to those at home. Ultimately, this flows through to them treating our clients the same way. That old saying, “your culture is your brand,” rings true here. That is the root of our well-known “Cory’s brand” of client service.

It really is mine, John, and Britt’s pleasure to work with this team and not the other way around.

rAVe [PUBS]: You’ve been with the company for over 25 of its 70 years. Can you share a favorite Cory’s memory with us?

BP: You know, there are so many… I could tell you about the time I backed a truck through a dock door, or the time I accidentally parked a delivery van on top of a retaining wall, or the time two sheep chased a tech around during a livestock show! But really, the best memory is all the people I have gotten to work with over the years. They are more than employees or coworkers or clients, they really are friends. I have always said “you spend more time with your coworkers than you do your family” and that is certainly true in this business! It is why we only hire people that you would want to sit down and have a drink with. The Cory’s team is fun, smart and personable. Every great memory I have in the last 25+ years revolves around spending time with my friends. You can’t beat that!

rAVe [PUBS]: Do you have any celebrations planned for your employees and customers this year?

BP: We have something extra special planned for the company itself. We are rebranding. Part of our evolution will be stepping into the full-service, beyond-just-AV brand and visually becoming what our clients already feel about us. Cory’s is poising itself for the future of communication technology as well. You will see our company reflect all of our services a little better and represent that friendly, innovative spirit of Cory’s at the same time. Of course, it wouldn’t be Cory’s without a big blowout party happening with that rebrand roll out!

rAVe [PUBS]: What does the future look like for Cory’s?

BP: If the future is anything like the last few years of substantial growth, our future is big and bright! Cory’s brand will be poised to welcome even more business technology related services. This change along with Britt Gotcher joining John and I as an owner will fuel our innovation engine more. The new brand will expand our clients’ knowledge on all that we offer. Can you tell we are excited for this change? It is rare, but our team thrives in flexibility and change. We will continue to look at our clients’ needs and respond accordingly, but always in the spirit of partnership, growth, and innovation. Cory’s will continue to push boundaries in Oklahoma and even beyond, but we won’t ever lose sight of the fundamentals of family and partnership that brought us to 70 years of success.