Bates Security opens Florida branch

LEXINGTON, Ky.—Bates Security, an alarm company based here and focused on central and northern Kentucky, opened a new branch in Jacksonville, Fla.

“We had a strong desire to have another location, another branch,” Jeremy Bates, company president, told Security Systems News. “We have built a very successful company in Lexington and central Kentucky, and like any business, we have a strong desire for growth, and one of the ways to grow is geographically.”

Bates Security currently has more than $470,000 in RMR in Lexington and about 7,000 accounts.

The new branch was opened by Bates' brother—and the company's vice president—Bryan Bates, along with an additional sales person, an alarm technician, and a part-time marketing employee. Bryan Bates is now also the GM and owner of the Jacksonville branch.

“We're really focusing on bringing value to our clients by being involved in the community,” Bryan Bates told SSN. This entails networking with chamber councils and getting to know people in the community.

What is different about the Jacksonville market compared with the Lexington market? “What really jumps out is how spread out the city is,” Bryan Bates said, pointing to the fact that Jacksonville is one of the largest cities by area in the country. “One of my first customers is a church and they're 45 minutes from the office and they're in the same city.”

The new branch opened on Aug. 1. “Right now, the main focus is obviously selling, installing, and maintaining our customers,” Jeremy Bates said. “We're ahead of budget right now and have more customers than we had anticipated.”

Bates Security chose Jacksonville to have a large city where it could be entirely focused on the commercial market, Jeremy Bates said. The company's business in Kentucky is 50 percent residential, he said.

“My brother is the natural person to lead that expansion. He's a family member, an owner in the business,” he said, adding that the company's organic, year-over-year growth in Lexington is due to Bryan Bates' leadership.

Bates said that the office will be smaller, with business administration and other overhead matters handled remotely from the main office in Lexington.