Federal Protection moves headquarters

by Paul Schreiber

SBJ Reporter

pschreiber@sbj.net

Federal Protection Inc. has made a living selling a sense of security to area businesses. A recent move is securing the company's own future.

Thirty-five-year-old Federal Protection Inc., a Springfield-based business offering banking, commercial and residential security products and services, moved its corporate headquarters March 29 to 2500 N. Airport Commerce Road.

The move allows for growth and expansion, said Kim Hancock, president and CEO, who has seen the company grow from the 15 employees it started with at its previous location at 614 N. FR 115 to 100.

Federal Protection acquired the 58,000-square-foot former Northrop Grumman Interconnect Technologies assembly plant Dec. 31, Hancock said. The expansion nearly quadrupled Federal Protection's space from the 15,000 square feet at its previous site, he added.

Hancock would not disclose the purchase price or the cost to remodel the structure, but he said the main changes to the building were infrastructure additions for technology purposes. Of Federal Protection's new space, 22,000 square feet are dedicated to document storage, 20,000 square feet are set aside for warehousing and 16,000 square feet are used for offices and training rooms, he said.

Security solutions

The company offers a wide range of security solutions, said Paul Morris, Federal Protection vice president of sales and marketing. It can handle virtually any type of security issue, except for live security guards, Morris said, adding it has accounts in five states Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas.

The company operates in four main areas, Hancock said: banking equipment service; residential and commercial security systems; document storage and recovery; and facility construction. The latter, launched in 1995, offers turnkey design/build services for financial institutions from modular buildings to full-scale bank facilities.

These projects cost from $250,000 to $2 million, Hancock said. The company owns 15 of these modular units that it leases to new banks or credit unions while their permanent structures are under construction.

Hancock said revenues derive about 60 percent from financial institutions, 20 percent from commercial operations and 20 percent from residential work.

Housed in Federal Protection's warehouse are sophisticated cameras, two-ton bank vaults, safety deposit drop chutes, bullet-proof windows, fire alarm and sprinkler monitoring equipment, and a variety of access control devices, said Don Hancock, information technology director for the company and Kim Hancock's son.

An area holding ATMs valued at between $10,000 and $40,000 are similar to units the company services in about 700 locations, Don Hancock said.

Security's future

Digital technology and Internet-based security where businesses or residences are linked to Federal Protection's central location through the Internet are two areas of rapid growth, Kim Hancock said.

Part of the firm's revenues in digital sales come from updating clients' existing analog systems to digital equipment, Morris said, which gives the owner better data control and eliminates videotapes.

Customized home surveillance systems also have led recent growth. In the last two years, residential surveillance sales increased more than 30 percent, Hancock said.

Customized home systems can run from $400 to more than $4,000, depending on product features, sophistication of equipment and if the customer selects a service contract, he said.

Many new homeowners are installing perimeter security for monitoring doors and windows, Morris said. Also, motion sensor devices and access controls for interior security are becoming more popular.

Additionally, early warning fire alarms and carbon monoxide detectors can be tied together with other security systems into a response or monitoring center that receives the alarm information and responds by making the appropriate calls, Morris said.

Perhaps residential security system sales are up because of the insurance discounts offered homeowners. Jim Wollard, owner of two Allstate agencies in Springfield, said fire detectors and devices protecting against criminal activity are attractive to insurance carriers.

For homeowners who have these products, premiums can be cut by 5 percent to 15 percent Wollard said.