Approximately 100 people showed up for Business after Business on Thursday evening and toured the new digs of DHC Communications. Former Mayor John Dooley was there with his wife Pat, while city councillor Anna Purcell was accompanied by her partner Gary Ockenden.
Visitors soon learned it’s hard to sum up all the things that DHC does these days.
The local business, started by L.V. Rogers grad Dave Harasym while he was still in Grade 12, has developed over the past eighteen years into a multi-faceted business that most recently took over Tu-Dor Lock and integrated its storefront into their Front St. building. In April they won a Nelson Business Award alongside the Hume Hotel.
They call themselves technology integrators, and the employees at DHC deal with the City of Nelson’s broadband infrastructure, are developing air conditioning and surveillance systems for the Nelson Commons, and have teamed up with a diverse range of local operations such as Selkirk College and Whitewater Ski Resort.
And that’s just a few examples.
“I think there’s a lot of people in town who don’t know what we do or the services we’re providing,” Harasym told the Star.
“Anything to do with technology and the wiring systems related to it, we’re probably all over it,” he said. An example of this was on proud display for the night’s visitors: a screen playing a live feed from multiple cameras, including one that showed the rainy traffic outside.
“That’s a camera system manufactured by a Vancouver company called Avigilon and we’re the Kootenays’ representatives for that product. We use those on almost all our CCTV surveillance sites including at the Kootenay Co-op and other locations in town.”
Harasym noted that their current building was originally constructed in 1898 as a grocery warehouse and meat-smoking facility. They began the process of renovating the building, which was formerly’s Reo’s Video, in 2014 and are scheduled to complete the exterior stucco and metalwork by next spring.
“It’s pretty spectacular to have the amazing people who work here, and it’s good to contribute to the economy with payroll and using local suppliers, then to also have the ability to work while taking advantage of all the recreational opportunities around here? It’s awesome.”