Per Mar adds quality and quantity in Cedar Rapids
By Martha Entwistle
Updated Sun June 1, 2008
DAVENPORT, Iowa--Per Mar Security aims to increase density in the Cedar Rapids market with its latest acquisition, A-1 Alarm Company, which is based there.
Per Mar is a super-regional with about 3,000 existing customers in Cedar Rapids. It has 42,000 total customers and 22 locations in and around Iowa.
While he is not interested in having a presence nationwide, Per Mar president Mike Duffy said his company does seek to be the dominant player in its chosen markets.
“We go for quality rather than quantity, but we want quantity where we do business,†said Duffy. “This acquisition fits that plan … it gives us a 25 percent jump in market share [in Cedar Rapids].â€Â
The deal, terms of which were not released, brought with it 700 accounts, the balance of which are commercial rather than residential. Duffy noted, however, that about 600 A-1 customers did not have monitored systems. His Cedar Rapids sales team is gearing up to contact all of those customers for monitoring and other services. Mike Weiland, Cedar Rapids Electronic Security general manager, will oversee the transition.
The former owner of A-1, Jim Poorbaugh, who had been in the alarm business since 1972, is retiring. “They had been a competitor of ours for years and they made contact with us five weeks ago, and there we go, boom. We closed on May 1.â€Â
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