Busy month continues for Stanley

NAPERVILLE, Ill.—After a relatively inactive spring on the acquisition front, Stanley CSS made two buys in two weeks, following up last week's Sonitrol of the Tri-State buy with a purchase this week of Sonitrol of Allentown, a Sonitrol franchise since 1979, located in Allentown, Pa. According to Stanley, the sale includes mostly commercial accounts including retail, restaurant, industrial, financial, service and education customers being serviced throughout eastern Pennsylvania.

John and Carmen Steele, who've owned the franchise since 1983, are retiring from the business.

“They're a very nice couple and they were ready to retire,” said Felix Gonzales, VP of strategic initiatives and business development at Stanley CSS, “but we worked with them over the last number of months and they did a lot to prepare the business to make that transition. They took an awful lot of care with the customers and setting the accounts up ... They feel comfortable that Stanley will come and step into their shoes and provide the same service they've been providing since 1983.”

Those customers will be serviced by the existing Stanley CSS office located in Langhorne, Pa.

In other Stanley news, the departure of CSO Don Young and CFO Dan Bresingham to go work with the new Protection One executive team has not left an unfilled void, Gonzales said. While he wouldn't comment on Young and Bresingham's departure, he did note the arrival of new Stanley CSS CFO Jason Martin, who comes from Stanley's Healthcare Solutions group; along with Jim Kopplin, new COO for North America and United Kingdom Direct, and Mike Bishop as senior VP of field operations for the United States, both of whom were promoted up from the Stanley CSS ranks.

“This shows we've got a deep bench,” Gonzales said. “Whenever there's an opportunity for growth, and you take top talent from within, that's a positive message across the board.” Further, while Young and Bresingham both were part of the HSM team that came to Stanley CSS, and Protection One's Tim Whall appears to be surrounding himself with his former ADT and HSM staff, Gonzales noted that you can't point to any one source for Stanley CSS's top execs.

“We recently had a leadership meeting,” he said, “where we brought together regional VPs, directors, senior leadership, and as you looked into the crowd, it solidified what we've always told people: 'We're interested in bringing the best together.' There were guys that came from HSM, leaders from the Sonitrol acquisition, some from acquisitions like National Alarm Pro, Best Access, Integrator.com, you can go down the list of the number of companies that we've acquired that are part of Stanley's history. So when we talk about bringing people up, it's good to remember that it's made up of a diverse group of backgrounds. It's definitely not just old HSM or old Stanley or old Sonitrol guys. It's the best of the best.”