Select's central PA push

LANCASTER—Select Security, which announced six acquisitions in December, began 2010 with two more acquisitions in central Pennsylvania.

Select CEO Patrick Egan announced Jan. 27 the acquisition of Koontz Alarm Service of Bedford, Pa., and Audamax Electronics of Tyrone, Pa. The acquisitions add 1,000 new subscribers to Select's rolls, bringing the total to about 8,000.

The acquisitions build density for Select Security in central Pennsylvania, a region it moved into in 2004 with the acquisition of Alsenco in Altoona, Pa. “We've continued to grow by acquiring small independents,” Egan said. “This time we picked one company 26 miles north of Altoona and picked another company 25 miles south, and we've got a number of others in the works.”

Founded by Richard Koontz 28 years ago, Koontz Alarm “has been an acquisition target for me for 20 years,” Egan said. “They fit our perfect profile, a major provider in small markets, as does Audamax,” he said. “Koontz had such a high concentration in Bedford County. No other alarm company had anything.”

Egan said Audamax “has a nice base of customers.” All of the accounts are being transitioned to Select's central station and will be handled and supported by Select's Altoona branch.

Jeff Wright, who has owned Koontz since 1995, is joining Select's sales team. “We—my wife and I—purchased Koontz in 1995 and more than tripled the number of monitored alarm accounts,” he said. Joining Select “is great for my customers and for me personally,” he said. As a small independent “it's tough to find technicians and you end up doing sales, service and installation … now instead of three jobs, I have one,” Wright said. In addition, his customers have access to all of the services and additional products offered by a company like Select, he said.