AIEA — Thomas Lee often wonders if people passing by the large, warehouse-like building across Waimalu Elementary School realize there's a multi-million dollar, award-winning technology firm inside.

"I'm not one to make noise," said the owner of The Audio Visual Company (AVCO). But even he's having a difficult time containing his excitement over the landmark year his business has experienced.

Not only has AVCO won the "Technology Company of the Year" award presented by Technology News Bytes at last month's Technology Industry Awards gala, the Flavors of Technology, but he's also marking his 20th year of company ownership.

And the operation — which specializes in the design, installation and maintenance of facilities used for multimedia presentations and video conferencing -is busier than ever. "We'll do over $12 million in business this year," he said. That's significantly more than the $1 million he grossed during his first year back in 1988, when he had just eight employees.

Now he's got a staff of 24. "I'm still hiring. If I can find an engineer who is also a technician, that would be gold."

So when it seems like every other business is suffering, going bankrupt or asking for a bailout, how does he explain his success?

The main thing he constantly emphasizes is to provide "excellent" service to customers.

"Anybody can sell a product," he said. "We jump when the client calls us. We've got a dozen technicians. We'll get our people there."

And when customers include hotels, the government, schools, hospitals, military contractors and other high-end clientele with mission-critical tech, it's important to keep them happy. "The stakes are high," he noted.

But for the community-minded Lee, money isn't everything — which is precisely why he's a longtime supporter of education, donating money, time and resources to schools. Last month, the company contributed a $50,000 gift certificate to the Hawaii Department of Education. DOE can use the donation for the purchase and installation of tech products for the classroom.

"In this time of austerity, we appreciate Audio Visual Company's $50,000 donation to the Hawaii Department of Education," said Daniel Hamada, assistant superintendent at the DOE.

AVCO has also "adopted" its neighbor, Waimalu Elementary. The company has supplied volunteers and donations at the school's annual fun run fundraiser.

"I always felt education was the backbone of the community," Lee said.

For information, visit www.theavco.com.