Centralarm opens new West Coast facility

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Centralarm Monitoring, based here, has added a third facility in Monterey, Calif., a move that reflects a concerted effort by the company to continue expanding its national footprint.

Eleven years ago, when the company began to transition from what was predominantly a New England-based central station to more of a national one, it initially did so without the aid of a major advertising effort, Kevin Helmig, president of Centralarm, told Security Systems News.

With the addition of the Monterey-based, the company's approach has shifted. “”Now that we have a truly national presence, it's time to really say it out loud,” Helmig said. In addition to extensively increasing its marketing campaign at a national level through industry advertising avenues, Helmig said the company is “amplifying our 'boots on the ground' exposure through increased presence at national trade shows we had not been a part of in years past.”

The Monterey central, whose connectivity infrastructure will be complete in late June or early July 2014, will complement Centra-Larm's two existing facilities—its primary central station here, and an “overflow, disaster recovery setup” in nearby Bedford, N.H.

Helmig expects the new facility on the opposite coast to immediately promote the growth of the company's national account base, giving dealers an added level of assurance about the company's redundancy capabilities.

“One of the obstacles we ran into was [prospective dealers] asking where the second facility was,” Helmig said. “When we explained that it was close by our primary facility, it wasn't exactly the most endearing thing they wanted to hear from us—even though we've done exceedingly well without a second central station for over 20 years.”

He added: “When you get to a certain size, morally, ethically, you have to make sure all your eggs aren't located in one basket in order to help maintain trust and peace of mind throughout your client base.”

To supplement its strong organic growth, the company is now actively in “acquisition mode,” according to Helmig, who said “geographic diversity” will continue to be a priority.

“We are actively seeking acquisition opportunities for existing central stations as well as remaining open-minded to starting them from scratch, depending on where the opportunity lies throughout the country,” he said.