F.E. Moran enters monitoring fray

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Building off a 60-year-old brand in the Chicago area, F.E. Moran launched its central station late last year with a goal of monitoring up to 100,000 accounts within five years. F.E. Moran Alarm & Monitoring Services was established to cater to the high-end residential and light commercial markets. The company, which employs 32, services national accounts and has two sales people on the ground to bring in local business. While the company will serve as the monitoring arm for its existing installation business, it will also offer wholesale alarm monitoring to installers in the security market. Although the company is independently owned, its connection to the other F.E. Moran companies is more than skin deep. Armon, a Northbrook, Ill.-based holding company operates a number of industrial companies that bare the F.E. Moran brand, including F.E. Moran Fire Protection, F.E. Moran Mechanical Contractor and F.E. Moran Special Hazard Systems. The connection is not lost on Alarm & Monitoring Services Chief Executive Officer Brian Moran and President Brett Bean, who co-owns the company. Moran, whose grandfather was F.E. Moran and who holds the majority of the stock in the monitoring business, serves as president of Armon, and Bean is operations manager for the Champaign office of F.E. Moran Fire Protection. Alarm & Monitoring Services works closely with Armon’s Fire Protection division, often times sharing industry contacts and contract leads. “We’re on a good track to hit 20,000 accounts by the end of the year,” said Bean. “We are preparing to move into the Chicago area by the fall,” The company now works with three dealers. The company purchased Champaign-based Security Management Company late last year, and the deal brought 1,500 accounts into the fold. “It was a way to jump-start our local presence,” said Bean. Security Management Company had been around for 22 years and was owned by Chris Chapman, who now serves as operations manager at Alarm & Monitoring Services. Geographically, Alarm & Monitoring Services is focused on the Illinois and Indiana markets with national accounts to be built through dealer contracts. UL and Factory Mutual approval is now in the works for its central station. The company is “on track to grow our account base,” said Bean, meaning they are open to acquire both dealer accounts as well as small central stations to increase business. The company said it would consider opening another central “if business goes as it should.” Also adding that it would be a redundant site on a different coast. “We feel like our growth should be substantial” before any action will be taken, he said.