With new security division, Adesta to double capacity

OMAHA, Neb. - Telecommunications company Adesta LLC has been providing security to the federal government for about a decade, but the company expects to double its capacity with its new security division. The division, called Adesta Security Group, is based at the company’s headquarters here. Unlike its existing security business in Huntsville, Ala., and known as the Security Center of Excellence, Adesta Security Group will focus on work other than federal contracts through the Army Corps of Engineers. “The reason for starting another division is so we don’t detract from or dilute our ability to provide for our Corps customers,” said Bob Sommerfeld, president of Adesta, a company with 200 employees. With a new security division, company officials project that 60 percent of the company’s business will come from the security market in 2004. Officials expect an equal split between the company’s federal contracts through the Army Corps of Engineer and new business through Adesta Security Group. Since creating the new security group in late 2003, Adesta has already put seven contracts on its books. Jobs include a regional airport, laux and waterway security, and securing the Port of Corpus Christi in Texas, the nation’s sixth-largest port. The Port of Corpus Christi project was slated to get underway this month, with completion in April. The first phase of the project involves spending $3 million to install about 75 cameras and alert notification software from VistaScape. The second phase is scheduled to get underway in 2004. “This is going to be a significant improvement in the security system,” said Luther Kim, chief of police and security for the Port of Corpus Christi. Previously the Port solely relied on security guards to protect the property, with no electronic surveillance to assist them. To handle the additional workload expected to come from the Adesta Security Group, Sommerfield said the company will begin to increase its staff size. Adesta Security Group will be housed at the company’s Omaha, Neb., location, with staff mobilized to project sites across the country. Other offices are located in Albany, N.Y., Rahway, N.J., Chicago, Denver, Sacramento, Calif. and Middletown, Conn.