Face of the Future: Vahe Hovagimian

Maintaining a family legacy is never an easy task, and one many in the younger generations simply choose to ignore in favor of their own personal pursuits. For Vahe Hovagimian, however, continuing the long tradition of the Hovag Bros, a company started in 1958 and dealing mainly in industrial electricity and automation, was perhaps the most natural choice he could make.

Was working for the family business always in the works?

Actually, I’ve always wanted to lead an academic life. I had chosen to study economics in AUB, and wanted to continue in that field, get my PhD, then teach and do research. When the family business started expanding, however, I realized that wasn’t possible, and all I could do was come back and shoulder some of the responsibility.

Was it difficult switching from the academic track of economics to the practical world of business?

Again, not really. My father has insisted that all the children in our family go to the workshops from an early age. So, much of my childhood was visiting and observing the craftsmen, and seeing how they work the tools and assemble the panels, as well as notice the measures they took to be the leaders of quality in the field. When I went off to university, I would spend about 70% of the time studying, and 30% of the time working and handling the affairs here.

You finished your high school A-Levels in England, then started your university career in Germany before returning to the region and continuing your education in Beirut. How do you feel all this travel has affected your worldview?

It really helped introduce me to the multicultural aspects of life, especially when I was in Germany, where I was in a school dedicated to students from all over the world. That experience really helped change my mentality, perhaps even westernizing me a bit. AUB was also an opportunity to meet Syrians who were to become some of the most economically active members of the society.

As an Armenian, do you feel that you perhaps have more to prove in the eyes of local society?

Not really, since I consider myself first and foremost a Syrian. That said, it is true that people expect that I continue the good reputation Armenians have of being good, talented workers who run high-quality establishments.

Who else is with you in the business, and what goes on at Hovag Bros?

We are three brothers and one sister in our family, and we’re all in the business in one way or another. Even my sister was contributing to the main branch of the business for a while, and now under the Hovag Bros umbrella is in the business of bridal fashion imports.

As for our core business, it has always been electrical systems, from low voltage industrial systems and automation, to switchgear systems for businesses and houses. Around the turn of the century, the trend in Europe was leaning towards efficient, low energy systems, something we brought to the country early on, and are now leaders in the field. Beyond the production of our own workshops, we’ve been the exclusive agents for Moeller for 43 years, and also offer such industry giants as Frako, Wienale, Niko, and Fontina, the latter specializing in the old style of switches that was used almost exclusively when renovating the Old City of Damascus.

What have been some of the developments in the company since you came along?

We’ve become the exclusive agents for Artemide, the famed Italian house lighting systems. We plan on featuring them quite highly, and are completing work on the showroom so that, as you go to print, we should be able to introduce the Syrian public to this exclusive and fashionable brand.