Setronics gets FAC64 contract

BILLERICA, Mass.—Doing business with systems integrator Setronics just got easier for school systems and other public-sector entities and some nonprofit customers thanks to a new state FAC64 contract.

“It's a great value to municipalities and state agencies [because they] don't have to do the upfront design and bid work,” Don Kwapien, Setronics senior engineer said. That's important because many of these clients need security systems, but they don't have the “technical resources to conduct the complicated design and bid process that's required by state regulation,” he explained.

Securing the FAC64 contract involved meeting a “set criteria. We had to present our qualifications and experience and also what products we wanted to bring to bear,” Kwapien explained.

Public-sector customers who use the FAC64 program can “pick a la carte from different vendors,” he said, and the whole process is “streamlined and less formal.” There are fewer limitations and restrictions. Plans, for example, can be modified without extensive red tape.

Setronics started as a family-owned business 45 years ago, and is still privately owned. A founding member of PSA Security, the company now has two offices in Boston, and also offices in Connecticut, Maryland and Florida. Kwapien declined to specify revenues.

The company does video surveillance, access and intrusion “and we have an integrated design for people who want it,” Kwapien said. Customers include large retail chain stores, health care facilities, and financial and educational institutions.

“We are pretty unique; we try to use leading edge products and yet we're vendor neutral,” he said. The company is comfortable installing lesser-known brands of proven value as well as the household names, he said.

In addition to partners and subcontractors, Setronics has about 40 direct employees. Its employee count has grown steadily over the past five years, thanks in part to its in-house apprentice program. “In any given year, we'll have several technicians getting licensed under our program,” Kwapien said.