Lifelong Public Servants & Local Heroes Expand Business Locally

Over the course of the last 8 months Keith Grounsell has been asked more times than he can remember, “what are you doing now since you are no longer the Chief of Police in Simpsonville?”  For those of you who have not followed the story, Grounsell was abruptly terminated on December 28, 2012, after a little less than 4 months on the job.  He was never disciplined, written up or given any warning that he did anything wrong, which made this a surprise to everyone and very controversial.  As the Chief he was beloved by all of his officers and the citizens of Simpsonville, who have dubbed him “the peoples Chief.”  Since the termination the citizens held numerous protest to demand answers, but don’t seem to be getting  straight one’s from city officials.  Since December 28, the city has continuously changed the reasons given for Grounsell’s termination each time the previous one is proven to be false.  It is now obvious that certain elected officials are on a smear campaign against Grounsell, who had the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division [SLED] initiate a criminal investigation in Simpsonville for public corruption.  This has been a long hard battle for the highly decorated lawman that has a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a diverse and noteworthy level of law enforcement experience (city, county, state, federal and international law enforcement experience). 

Two lifelong friends, Keith Grounsell and Corey Brady, take similar but yet different career paths and eventually come back together almost 20 years later to launch a business. 

With his heart and soul devoted solely to law enforcement since he graduated from college in 1997, Grounsell was now in a situation where he had to decide where to go next with his career.  With a wife and 3 small children, Grounsell wanted to find something that he could be equally as passionate about as he is law enforcement.  Grounsell stated “I love helping people and don’t mind doing difficult things to accomplish goals.  I just needed to find something I could jump in head first with and devote most of my time to.”  Around this same time period a lifelong friend of Grounsell’s, Corey Brady, was looking to expand his Atlanta based business into the Greenville area. 

Grounsell and Brady grew up 3 houses away from each other on the same street in Mauldin, SC.  Although they are a few years apart in age they have been lifelong friend, who took similar but different career paths after high school.  Grounsell went into law enforcement and Brady joined the United States Marine Corp.  Grounsell has chalked up more accolades than we could ever mention in this article, obtaining experience in the following positions: Chief of Police in Simpsonville, Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration, Chief Investigator for the largest Solicitor’s Office in the State of SC, National Commander of the Afghanistan National Police Special Forces Unit (i.e. SWAT Teams, Riot teams and quick reaction forces), Co-Commander of a Multi-County Anti-Gang and Violent Crime Task Force, and many years of experience as a highly decorated vice & narcotics investigator specializing in undercover work. 

To say it modestly, Brady has a very respectable resume himself.  After high school he decided to serve his country and joined the United States Marine Corp.  He worked his way up through the ranks to the position of Staff Sergeant.  At his peak he commanded more than 35 Marines and over 750 Marine Corp recruits.  Brady prides himself in being a career infantry man who fought in the Battle of Fallujah (Iraq) as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.  After 16 years proudly serving his country as a United States Marine, he was honorably discharged due to injuries sustained over the course of his career.  This is where the similarities between Grounsell and Brady keep going on and on.  Not only did they both serve their respective countries in their own way, but Grounsell was also hurt while in the Middle East (i.e. Afghanistan) serving as a civilian contractor on a Department of State mission, while commanding the countries elite special forces police unit (SWAT and Riot Teams). 

Approximately three years ago, Brady took the initiative to start a company called Elite Home Theater Designs.  Since then the company has grown and evolved from concentrating exclusively on home theater designs into many other areas.  Brady quickly found a niche in events planning and became a go to guy in the Georgia area for special events (i.e. weddings, corporate, church and other social functions) with his primary emphasis in uplighting, DJ services and photo booth rentals.  About 2 years ago Brady changed the name of the company to Elite Audio Visual Solutions. 

Wanting to make it back to his native soil in Greenville, faith brought Brady and Grounsell back together almost 20 years after graduating high school.  The company was looking to expand its headquarters and relocate to the Greenville, SC area.  Grounsell, was very interested in the security/surveillance aspect of the business, which also specializes in home/commercial automation to include surveillance, alarm systems and other personal security features.  After some close planning and brain storming, the two of them came together to legally form Elite Audio Visual Solutions, LLC.  Now they have opened their headquarters in Greenville, SC, at the Merovan Center (located in Suite G-22 of the office complex at Woodruff Rd. & I-385) .  They are proudly serving all of South Carolina and Georgia as Events/Entertainment and Home/Commercial Automation specialist.  Brady is the technology expert who handles all operational aspects of the business, while Grounsell’s attention to detail allows him to be a great administrator over all other aspects of the business.  Together the two form a complimentary partnership for the business and customer’s that they serve. 

Elite Audio Visual Solutions, LLC is known in the Audio Visual [AV] world as an innovative technology company that focuses in two separate areas.  One side concentrates on cutting edge technology in the residential and commercial automation and the other on special events coordination.  Home/Commercial automation is the wave of the future and just about every new home has some form of automation installed in it.  According to Grounsell, “we can go into any preexisting structure and automate it, without you ever knowing that we were there.  The technology is amazing, convenient, and is constantly changing…which makes it a challenge to keep up with the different trends in the market.”  The events side of the house varies and includes an array of different services: uplighting packages, DJ services, stage and dance lighting, photo booth rentals, outdoor movies on the lawn and much more.  It appears by the looks of things and how fast the business started off that they may outgrow their new building rather quickly.  If you think you would need any of their services in South Carolina or Georgia you can reach them at 864-214-6047 or email them at info@eliteAVsolutions.com.