Forty Two Inc. tackled numerous Obama campaign stops in Ohio with a QSC WideLine system, including one at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. Photo: Anne Savage Photography
Boardman, OH (November 7, 2012)—Ohio was the must-win state for both political parties last night in their quests for the White House, ultimately paving the way for President Obama’s reelection. The incumbent had spent months campaigning heavily in Ohio, with AV staging, rental and sales company Forty Two Inc providing QSC Wide Line line arrays along the way.
“Obama for America” is one of our big clients,” says Tony Ferrello, president, Forty Two Inc. As a GSA [General Services Administration] and CCR [Central Contractor Registration] contractor, the company does a lot of government work, and that carries into the political world every four years. “That’s a big boost for us, to work with one of the candidates, typically the incumbent.”
“We bought the QSC system right at the beginning of this election cycle,” he said, “and in May at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center, a 20,000-seat arena, we used 56 WideLine-10s, 12 WideLine-8s and seven or eight racks of PowerLight 380 amplifiers. That event was really successful.”
He continues, “We started with President Obama when he was a senator. The first event we did with him, at Penn State University back in early 2008, was with a sub-rented WideLine system. We’ve done probably 30 or 40 large events for the president over this summer with WideLine in the northeastern U.S. So the whole time we’ve been working with him we’ve been using WideLine.”
Working as a government-approved contractor, every dollar that the vendor charges is under scrutiny, he says. In the case of GSA work, the agency schedules the payment based on national averages. Those factors, too, encouraged Ferrello to look for a cost effective PA solution, which he found in the QSC speakers. “That has focused our business on getting the job done with less transportation and labor costs,” he says.
Following a fire at a property adjacent to its former location, AV staging, rental and sales company Forty Two Inc. relocated its headquarters to Boardman, OH and has re-equipped, acquiring new WideLine, KLA and K Series loudspeaker systems “QSC’s local rep called us as soon as he heard we were in the market for new inventory, and he did a good job of focusing us on what would work best for our needs,” says Ferrello. In total, he purchased 32 WideLine-10 line array modules and 12 WL218-sw subwoofers, eight KLA12 active line array modules with four KLA181 subwoofers, and ten K12 active loudspeakers.
Forty Two Inc.
www.fortytwoinc.com
QSC Audio
www.qsc.com
