Membership increase gets PSA board OK

DENVER - Security cooperative PSA Security Network has begun actively recruiting new security companies to join the organization, the group’s first large-scale recruiting effort to increase its membership base since its inception. Earlier this summer PSA’s board of directors approved increasing its membership across the board. The first focus will be to recruit members in its more than 15 open territories, followed by a controlled increase of members in areas that already have coverage. In a year, PSA could grow from a group with 110 members to more than 135, a 25 percent growth rate, said Bill Bozeman, president and chief executive officer of PSA Security Network. By allowing more members to join, PSA members will be able to better network among fellow systems integrators, said Bozeman. Often members may call upon one another to help with a security project in a market they are lacking coverage. “To service national accounts, PSA has to give architects and engineers, end users and consultants coverage everywhere,” said Bozeman. The organization also expects to increase its buying power among security product manufacturers. That benefit was one of the biggest reasons board members decided it was time to expand membership, said Jeff Marcus, chairman of the board of PSA and president of security company Securus. “Because all of the consolidation on the vendor side, negotiations have become tougher and we need to increase our volume with them to maintain good pricing for members,” said Marcus. Expanding PSA has been debated a number of times over the years and is a sensitive topic among members, said Bozeman. “There’s such an advantage to being a PSA member that once you get the advantage you don’t want to share that,” he said. The membership increase will also ensure PSA has solid market coverage, said Bozeman. The goal, he said, is to have two PSA members in certain markets. However, to become a member, a company must be financially stable, in business for at least three years, and maintain a certain volume of business. Members also pay a one-time fee to join, either $7,500 for full membership rights or $2,500 to become an associate member. By increasing PSA’s coverage, it provides protection to the organization, said Marcus. Should a member sell his company or leave the organization, recruiting a new member can take a long time, he said. Specific requirements for new members as part of the group’s expansion have yet to be worked out, said Marcus, but are expected to be determined over the next several months.