Versa Events, formerly known as Wager Audio, was founded in 2011 by Brad and Jessicah Wager. Earlier this year, as part of its 10th year of operations, the company re-branded as Versa Events to better reflect its ethos and capabilities. The company is known for its expert production services for organizations and institutions around Clark County, in addition to its variety of audio-visual equipment rentals that are available at its Vancouver location. The business initially started with a $1,500 investment in a box truck and grew over its first decade to earn more than $650K in annual revenue.
“We absolutely love being in the community and facilitating the gatherings that bring
people together,” said founder, Brad Wager.
Things came to a screeching halt in the spring of 2020, however. The pandemic forced many clients to cancel or postpone their events. This forced the company to temporarily lay off their employees. They reduced their number of trucks and types of vehicles they operate, and they began to streamline operations to better organize their equipment and workflow. Their determination to succeed played a big role in how they made it through such a stressful time.
“What we’ve all been through together just shows us that there’s nothing that can slow us down permanently,” said Wager. “We might stumble like the rest of the community, and work to adapt, but the strength we’ve gotten out of these obstacles has been invaluable.”
Darian Mesneak, Operations Manager at the company shared, “As we began to carve out ways to communicate our capabilities and plan for streaming events with our customers to help them continue to find creative ways to gather, our larger greenscreen studio and streaming services were born.” This service has allowed conferences and other events to happen for clients and has given the company a new source of revenue.
Today, Versa Events operates with six employees. They were able to hire back employees with some shuffling, eliminating a warehouse position and hiring a sales manager. Looking toward the future, Versa Events will continue to be fearless in how they tackle challenges. Their current goal is to grow their streaming and green screen services and help clients host hybrid events safely.
“Versa Events has a lot to look forward to this coming year, the most exciting being the continued growth of our team and the expanding services we offer our clients,” said Mesneak. “At Versa, we have seen our own struggles like everyone else, but we as a team are also not afraid of a challenge. I’m very proud of how our team has handled these difficult times by always making the people we serve come first.”
Versa Events is located at 12200 NE 60th Way #102B, in Vancouver.
