Kastle Systems' Chicago office increases sales force

CHICAGO-Kastle Systems' office here has increased its sales force to further develop relationships with tenants, builders and architects, according to the company's Chicago branch general manager, Marilyn Brooks. The additions take the office's employee roster to 22, nearly tripling its staff in the last four years. "Our growth is predicated on the health of the commercial real estate industry, and in Chicago, it's phenomenal," Brooks says. Carolyn Chambless has been hired as a systems sales consultant and will work closely with contractors, and Michael Straus has signed on as a systems consultant specializing in working with architects. "In the past two years, our focus has been on tenants, contractors and architects," says Brooks. "We can't ignore anyone involved with tenants and buildings." Kastle Systems provides security services for office buildings and has locations in several major U.S. cities, as well as Syd-ney, Australia. The company, headquartered in Washington D.C., designs and programs office security systems, installs, monitors and maintains them, and makes changes and upgrades when necessary. According to Mark Purcell, vice president of sales and marketing, the company has experienced nationwide a 20 percent growth rate per year for the past 10 years. He attributes the company's consistent growth to its aggressive sales and marketing efforts. "Once they know about us, clients are delighted to outsource (security) functions," Purcell comments. "With low unemployment, it's hard to find good people. Nobody wants to burn good people hours to provide security. It's not their core business." Brooks concurs. For Kastle's Chicago branch, card access has become its "primary" service, she says. "People say they have better things to do with their security guards than have them monitoring cards." "Buildings are maintaining healthy occupancy rates here," Brooks says. "It's very important to tenants that they feel secure because a lot of them are going to 24/7. More people are spending more time in their offices."