Tech Firm, Three Alberta Sites Join Seven Offices In British Columbia
NANAIMO – Innov8 Digital Solutions Inc. is continuing to expand its operations in BC and Alberta.
Innov8 President Andre Brosseau
The BC owned and operated company recently acquired Simbatech, an IT support and consulting business based in the Okanagan. Innov8 President Andre Brosseau also announced the Authorized Canon sales and service dealership has opened offices in Edmonton, Red Deer and Calgary, which marks his return to his roots in Alberta.
“After a six-year hiatus, I am excited to be coming back to where my business roots started and to reconnect with former clients and business associates,” he says. “Our acquisition of Simbatach will further strengthen innov8’s IT offerings so that we can deliver the best possible digital and print office solutions to businesses.”
With its roots going back to 1978, Innov8 is now the province’s largest independently owned and operated office equipment supplier, with a team of over 60 in seven offices.
Simbatech was a nominate for the Small Business of the Year award from the Kelowna Chamber of Commerce, and the company’s President, Kendall Prieb, will now serve as the Director of IT at Innov8.
“Kendall will navigate the growth of IT services offered to our clients in the continual digital transformation from the paper-based world to the artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) systems,” Brosseau says. “We look forward to assisting our existing and new clients with all their IT needs.”
In 1999, Brosseau partnered with Red Deer’s Digitex Copiers & Fax Inc. in what was then a start-up company. The business expanded to Edmonton, Calgary, and Fort McMurray, and by 2011 was recognized as the largest Canon office equipment dealer in Canada.
In 2013, Brosseau stepped down as Digitex President to focus on expanding business across BC. He moved his family to Kelowna and later sold his interest in Digitex and invested in a small Kelowna office systems company.
He then teamed with business partners Kevin Fisher and Bruce Kolb, and later he and another business partner, Brent Cartier, merged innov8 with Unity Business Machines in Victoria. Soon after, Innov8 took over Canon Canada’s Vancouver Island operations.
Since acquiring its first office, Innov8 has seen sales increase by more than 1,000 per cent and is now BC’s largest locally and independently owned and operated office equipment sales and service organization.
With offices in Kelowna, Kamloops, Victoria, Nanaimo, Courtenay, Campbell River, and Nelson, Brosseau says it’s their valued customers who have propelled the company to unparalleled growth across BC since 2013.
“With almost 30 years in the office equipment business, I have seen many changes, trends, fads, and business processes change, as has the technology. One constant has been our customers’ desire to have trusted, reliable, and efficient suppliers,” Brosseau says. “Customers want a positive experience, not only on the day they make the purchase but for years after they make the initial leap of faith. I know that empowered people make the difference, something technology can never replace.”