Our History

From school projection rental to event staging and production company

1940s

1946

First Location

1946 N High St

Cousino Communications expands Toledo-based business to Columbus and Steve Bartha relocates to Columbus to oversee the expansion. They open shop at 1946 High Street.

1946

Bartha Begins

Bernie Cousino decides to pull his business out of Columbus. Instead, Steve Bartha purchases the business and renames it Bartha Visual Educational Service. The company sells and rents film projectors, portable sound systems, filmstrip projectors, and slide projectors.

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1960s

1963

Walt Fritz

Bartha expands from a two person operation hiring Walt Fritz, an up-and-coming typewriter salesman.

1960s

Steady Expansion

Through the remainder of the 1960s Walt and Steve grow the business through sales and AV rentals, following the demand of their customers.

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1970s

1971

President Mildred Bartha

Steve Bartha suddenly passes away from a heart attack at age 56. This creates a question of who will take over the family business. Defying the convention of the time, Steve’s wife Mildred takes over the company herself. Over the next 25 years, Mildred and Walt grow the business through sales.

1973

Second Location

1404 Holly Ave

Mildred makes a strategic move for the business and the Bartha office moves from High Street to 1404 Holly Ave. and grows from 3 employees to 18 employees.

1974

Family Business

Jim Bartha joins the family business as a salesman.

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1980s

1982

Dan Bashore

Bartha hires Dan Bashore in the shipping and receiving department. Dan grew the department from the delivery and setup of small systems to something more complex – and saw the potential to sell a service to clients in addition to the equipment.

late 1980s

Bartha, nationwide

In the late 1980s, Bartha does traveling shows for State Auto Insurance. It’s through the growth of these events that Dan sees the opportunity to actively pursue more meetings like this and become a national, traveling company.

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1990s

1997

Third Location

4160 Indianola Ave

Bartha moves from Holly Avenue to Indianola Avenue. Bartha begins to have a national presence in the industry and continues to grow.

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2000s

2005

New Owners

As the rental and staging side of the business takes off, Jim Bartha is ready for a change. Dan Bashore proposes that he can purchase Bartha, keep the name and the people, and grow the business with the same commitment to quality and service that has made it successful thus far. Bartha is purchased by BKG Holdings, LLC (Dan Bashore, John Killacky, and Tom Gabbert).

2005

Fourth Location

600 N Cassady Ave

Bartha moves from Indianola Avenue to 600 N. Cassady Avenue, where it remains today.

2006

Content Creation

Bartha begins to build a production team that is dedicated specifically to the creative content of our events. This includes set designs, motion graphics, HD video production and art direction and grows over the years to also include animations and event branding.

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2010s

2010

Bartha the Production Company

Bartha creates a dedicated video production department. This allows for the production of video content for clients to be completed in-house making Bartha a truly full-service staging company.

2015

Booming Business

Bartha produces over 300 shows and grows to over 50 employees.

2016

Seven Decades

Bartha celebrates 70 years in business.

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2020s

2020

Viruses and Virtual Events

The COVID-19 pandemic devastates the live event industry, but Bartha perseveres with virtual adaptations.

2021

Diamond Anniversary

Bartha celebrates 75 years in business.

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Our Story

Seventy-five years and counting

Become part of the story. Let's work together on your next project.

ANNIVERSARYSeventy-five years celebration

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Bartha logo retrospective

Professor Projector mascot

Professor Projector mascot

75th anniversary logo

Bartha animation reel