Since its founding in 1950, United Community has grown steadily over the years, establishing a strong presence throughout the Southeastern United States. Today, the bank is one of the largest full-service financial institutions in the Southeast, known for its commitment to customer service and community engagement, with numerous branches across several states.
When United opened its $65 million corporate headquarters in downtown Greenville, South Carolina, the new seven-story, 118,000-square-foot building was designed to meet the WELL Building Standard, which emphasizes a holistic approach to health in the built environment. Located along the Reedy River, the facility incorporates open and light-filled spaces, advanced air and water filtration systems, and carefully selected building materials to provide efficiency and thermal comfort. Amenities include quiet zones for fostering collaboration and downtime, two terraces, 29 conference rooms and a dedicated gathering space and coffee bar.
United’s new headquarters also features two Planar fine pitch LED video walls installed by commercial AV designer and integrator Advanced Video Group. According to Jason Lynch, director of facilities and purchasing at United Community Bank, the LED installations reflect the pivotal role that technology plays in the building’s interior design. “It’s a very important piece to the experience we want to create,” he said.
Welcome Wall
In the fourth floor lobby and gathering space, the Welcome Wall is United’s statement piece. The installation is a nearly 14-foot-wide, 8-foot-high (7x7) Planar® MGP Series LED video wall with a 1.2mm pixel pitch that provides a variety of uses, including digital signage, messaging, presentations and entertainment. “It’s a showstopper,” Lynch said. “When you come off the elevator, the video wall is the first thing you see.”
As a message board, the Welcome Wall allows United to post news, announcements or corporate-wide updates like quarterly results. It can also be used to extend personalized greetings to clients and other visitors, leaving a lasting impression. “When people come to this building, we want the experience to be one they remember,” Lynch added.
For United’s employees, Lynch said the video wall enhances the work atmosphere, providing a vivid display to recognize birthdays and work anniversaries or see the bank’s social media posts in real time. “It supports our corporate culture and fits within our vision to create a workplace that employees are excited about.”
Boardroom Centerpiece
In the bank’s new boardroom, Advanced Video Group installed a nearly 12-foot-wide, 7-foot-high (6x6) Planar® TVF Series LED video wall with a 1.5mm pixel pitch. Complemented with automatic tracking cameras, microphones and a Cisco WebEx room pro system, the LED video wall provides a tailored solution for presentations and video conferencing. “
The 16:9 aspect ratio of the Planar TVF Series video wall matches their traditional video sources without the need for scaling,” said Adam Dox, president of Advanced Video Group. “From an integration standpoint, we’ve had tremendous success with Planar’s LED lineup over many years. We have peace of mind knowing that Planar displays will perform reliably in high-visibility, high-traffic areas, confirming that the investment is truly worthwhile.”
According to Mark Terry, chief information officer at United Community Bank, the superior performance of the Planar displays was a key factor in their decision. “We looked at other options, but in the end, kept coming back to Planar for its picture quality,” he said. “It’s not just a piece of technology-it’s something that brings our community together.”
A graduate of DeVry Institute of Technology, Doug has been in the Technology industry since 1976 and actively oversees Fearing’s daily operations. Along with his wife, Lois, and three others, Doug started Fearing’s in a 600 square-foot facility in Portage, Wisconsin. In the 25 years since, the company has grown to over 30 employees with offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Doug likes to say he’s a “TV Technician with a dream� going back to his history with the family’s original business-Fearing’s TV and Appliance.
Doug values time with family, watersports, hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. In addition to being a devoted member of his church, Doug serves as Board President for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County, Board member of Schools for Haiti and Scripture Chair of the Gideons-Portage camp.
A graduate of MATC, Lois oversees Fearing’s daily book keeping along with various HR responsibilities.
Along with Doug, Lois is deeply connected to community outreach, serving as a Board member and Fundraising Committee Chairperson for Kinship Mentoring of Columbia County. She also serves on the Schools for Haiti Fundraising committee. In addition, Lois’ ongoing passion and commitment to provide care for the elderly comes from her 10-year history of working in a Reedsburg, Wisconsin Nursing home.
Lois enjoys singing, hiking, sunny days on the pontoon, and spending time with her 4 grandchildren.
Ehren drives Fearing’s technology by continually seeking out trends to enhance capabilities while supporting Sales, Engineering and Installation teams. Throughout his years with Fearing’s, Ehren’s talent and vision have joined forces to create a wide variety of projects and strategic solutions that exceed expectation.
Ehren loves music, family time, movies, nature, sustainability efforts and electric vehicles.
With 10 years with Fearing’s and over twice that long in the industry, Ben continues to lead, coordinate, and develop the Commercial AV team.
By consistently delivering an outstanding experience and outcome, Ben contributes to the Fearing’s legacy of long-lasting partnerships that truly make a difference. Whatever the Commercial AV need may be, Ben and team deliver at the highest level.
Ben is an avid fisherman and photographer. He enjoys coaching his sons and other youth.
Chris has been with Fearing’s for 20 years and in the industry for over 2 decades. As a Certified leader in Sales Acceleration and trained in EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating Systems), Chris successfully utilizes his skills to lead the Fearing’s Salesforce. Chris and team are motivated and driven to develop new client partnerships while continuing to reinforce loyal long-term relationships with ongoing Service excellence.
Married for 19 years with 3 children, Chris enjoys skiing, hiking, fishing, boating, hunting, camping and golf. He’s also been actively involved as a Youth Football and Softball coach for his family and others.
