IAS moves into Cincy, a critical infrastructure 'mecca'

CINCINNATI—Setting up shop in this city, with its chemical, power and other critical infrastructure businesses, has been on Intelligent Access Systems' roadmap for four years, Ron Oetjen, IAS founder and SVP of Securadyne Systems, told Security Systems News.

“Cincinnati is known to be a mecca for those types of companies,” he said. “We have several significant enterprise client opportunities in this region. We also have an office in Canton [Ohio] and we wanted to serve western Ohio. It's like planting a flag next to an existing branch.”

IAS, which in January became a Securadyne company, also had a seasoned executive, Kevin Grice, who has deep roots in the Midwest and was eager to move back to Cincinnati.

Grice is confident it's a good move for IAS. “We know how to go organically into a market and do it right,” Grice said.

In March, Grice opened IAS's new office here and hired Jeremy Brewer. Brewer is an important asset in the plan, Grice said. “He's worked in this market for 20 years with enterprise-level customers. He's very well known and [he] understands the local market, how business gets transacted here and how to build our brand here.”

The first phase will entail “getting the IAS brand established” by identifying potential clients and participating in local trade shows, Grice said.

The new office will serve the local tri-state region, which includes Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. In addition to critical infrastructure, Grice sees potential health care and higher education customers in the region. He said it's also “a major [link to] Louisville and Lexington, Ky.; Indianapolis; Detroit; Chicago; Atlanta and Nashville.”

What's on the roadmap for expansion in the future? Oetjen said the Hampton Roads area [in Virginia] is another “industrial critical infrastructure mecca” and an area IAS is interested in.