Per Mar acquires Madison fire co.

DAVENPORT, Iowa--For the first time since it became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Per Mar Security in 1998, fire company Midwest Alarm Services will grow as a result of an acquisition. On Feb. 1, Per Mar acquired Associated Security of Madison. Their business is 85 percent fire and mostly commercial. The operation will become part of Midwest Alarm Services. Before the acquisition, Midwest had 23 employees and three offices located in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Davenport, Iowa. It had one employee in both Wausau and Eau Claire, Wis. All 16 of Associated's employees will be retained. The former owners of Associated, James Sullivan and Dennis Schultz, "sold because they were ready to retire," said Dustin Smyth, president of Midwest Alarm Services. One reason Per Mar was interested in Associated is because, like Midwest, it focuses on fire and is a Honeywell Notifier distributor, Smyth said. "All of our growth up until Feb. 1 was through organic growth," he said. "When I joined the company in 1998 we had six employees. With this acquisition, we've grown by quite a bit, we now have 40 employees," he said. Per Mar has two divisions in Madison: its electronic security division and its physical security business. Within the next year, the two Per Mar divisions and the new Midwest Madison office will be moved to one building, Smyth said. Last week, Per Mar hired Lou Stiles as general manager. Stiles will oversee the Madison Midwest operation, and the two Per Mar divisions located there. Stiles will report to Smyth. Per Mar Security Services is a full-service security company with offices throughout the Midwest.