Security firm buys another company

LANCASTER COUNTY

Lancaster-based Select Security continued a growth spurt in early January when it acquired a Clinton County competitor.

Select bought Home Security Systems Inc. of Lock Haven for an undisclosed price. The purchase is the fourth since 2004 for Select, which installs and services security, fire-detection and access-control systems for homes and businesses. The company also has acquired Alsenco Security in Altoona, Dynamark Security Center in State College and Pagerly Protection Agency in Reading.

"We are on an acquisition growth pattern," said Patrick Egan, Select Security's president. "We have a lot of activity."

Select Security was formed in 2003, a few years after Egan sold a previous firm, Commonwealth Security Systems Inc., to Florida-based Republic Industries Inc. Commonwealth had 10 offices and about 30,000 customers when Egan sold it.

Select Security serves more than 4,000 clients, with the bulk of that business in an area roughly bordered by Johnstown, Reading and the New York and Maryland lines. The company has about 50 employees, Egan said.

In addition to its Lancaster headquarters, Select Security has offices in Lock Haven, Altoona and State College. Egan would not disclose the firm's revenues, but said revenues grew about 20 percent last year.

Home Security provided Select Security with an opportunity to continue a pattern of buying small companies that are major players in the towns they serve, Egan said. Select is especially targeting accounts along the Interstate 99 corridor that stretches from Bedford north toward State College.

Select's acquisition spurt does not necessarily signal an overall trend toward consolidation in the security industry, though. There still are a lot of small, independent companies operating in the market, Egan said.

No matter their size, all security firms are feeling the effects of scientific advances. New technology has transformed many areas of the business, such as video surveillance and fire protection, Egan said.

However, the growth of the Internet has posed some challenges for the security industry, said Ed McFadden, president of Precision Alarm Systems Inc. in Mechanicsburg. Security systems traditionally are set up so a signal travels through a phone line to a monitoring center when an alarm at a home or business is activated. But an increasing number of people are getting rid of their landlines, forcing security firms to set up systems that send signals over the Internet. This can prove unreliable because a power outage can knock out a customer's Internet connection, McFadden said.

Despite the problems, McFadden believes Internet-based security systems will become more prevalent once reliability issues are addressed. "(The Internet) is where everything is going right now," he said.

[Sidebar]

Patrick Egan, Select Security's president, said the Security-services firm is on an acquisition growth pattern.

[Author Affiliation]

BY CHRISTINA OLENCHEK

chriso@journalpub.com