CGL likes complicated jobs

NORWOOD, Mass.—Ron Ludvigsen, president of integration firm CGL Electronic Security Solutions, said his company is perfectly suited for complex, major integration jobs.

For CGL “the more complicated the job, the better,” he said.

CGL is currently working on a project “for a large corporate client. We're installing 88 iClass readers as well as an integrated IP video system with 35 cameras, a badging system, two visitor management system and an integrated intercom system.”

Ludvigsen said he was not able to disclose the name of the client, but said it has a large headquarters in New England, “and it will be rolling out the system in 45 offices across the U.S.”

Ludvigsen founded CGL along with Brendan Cavanaugh and Jim Gallagher 13 years ago. The company has 31 employees and did about $5.8 million in revenue last year. That figure had been “as high as $7.2 million” before the economy tanked, he said. Business is picking up, and “we're heading back in that direction [toward higher revenue] again,” Ludvigsen said.

His company doesn't play much in the bid market. “We're a relationship company.” That helped CGL during the downturn, he said, because it continued to do work for many of its long-term clients.  Even though “the projects went down in size and we adjusted our margins downward,” CGL did better during that time than many of its competitors, Ludvigsen said.

CGL steers away from straight access and video jobs, he said, because it's difficult to compete with companies that haven't “invested in the employee training, infrastructure, inventory and service stock and insurance that we carry.”

CGL employees are highly trained, with advanced licenses and certifications, he said, and CGL's clients include thousands of small businesses and some of New England's largest colleges, biotech/pharma companies, commercial property management, financial and healthcare institutions.

Goals this year included an intensified focus on increasing its service revenue and on national accounts.

As a member of Security-Net, a group of 18 independent integrators, CGL is able to “leverage [the group's] ability to do installation across the U.S.”