Allstate makes acquisition #22

AMARILLO, Texas—Dale Elliott, president Allstate Security Industries here, made his most recent acquisition the way he usually does: “I don't really seek 'em out, they come to me.”

Allstate is a full-service security company with a guard business and a UL-listed central station. The acquisition of Jarrett Security Services of Canyon, Texas, marks Elliott's 22nd acquisition in his company's 43-year history. 

Elliott told Security Systems News in August that the owner of the company died and “the widow wanted to make sure his clients, [many of whom were] friends, would be well taken care of, so she chose us.” The purchase was a small book of accounts that Jarrett had built up over 23 years as a one-man operation.

Allstate has 56 employees, about half of whom are involved in the guard business (which is focused in Amarillo) and half in the alarm business. His guards have “caught 738 burglars without shooting anybody or anybody getting shot,” Elliott boasted. He owns just north of 5,000 accounts and does third-party monitoring for “a couple thousand more accounts.” Allstate's business is split evenly between residential and commercial accounts and includes CCTV, access control “and lots of fire.”

Elliott said the economy in the area hasn't been as hard hit as the East or West Coast. “We took a vote on the recession and decide not to participate,” he said. Asked if that vote worked out, he said yes. “It worked out great … I would say we've probably grown account-wise by five or six percent in the last 12 months.”

And in the next 12 months? “My plan is to keep on keepin' on,” he said.