Cook Security Group expands into California

MILWAUKIE, Ore.—Cook Security Group, a full-service security company that does mostly commercial business, has opened two new facilities in California, expanding the company's West Coast footprint in its number one growth market, Randy Neu, the company's chief marketing officer, told Security Systems News.

The business has had customers in California for a while, but until now it had no facilities in the state, Neu said. One of the locations is in Benicia, a city between San Francisco and Sacramento, while the other is in Carlsbad, which is located between Los Angeles and San Diego. Neu said the company needed two locations to support business in both regions.

The facilities' primary function is to allow technicians to pick up equipment when it's shipped there.

Neu does not expect this to be the last time the company expands in the Golden State. “Quite frankly this won't be the end of it,” he said. “That's a big area, and we're probably going to have to put a few more small locations peppered around as we grow.”

Cook Security, which does about 80 percent of its business in the banking and financial institution sector, with the remaining 20 percent spread around the small commercial, government and hospital verticals, now has eight locations peppered throughout the West. Besides California, the company does business in Oregon, Nevada, Idaho, Montana and Washington. The company has weighed making a push into Arizona and Utah but has yet to do so yet, Neu said.

The company's growth strategy relies on a “saturation approach,” according to Neu. The company, founded in 2002, has a well-established presence in Oregon and Washington, and has identified California as its number one growth market—primarily due to the high concentration of financial institutions, Neu noted.

“While we're reasonably saturated in the Northwest market, California presents a tremendous amount of growth, and that's why we've made the commitment both in facilities and labor and use of technology to California,” he said.