RENO, Nev.--Though he might have wished for different circumstances, CS Security & Sound president Craig Snair is happy to have added Domus Technologies, based here, to the fold. "Unfortunately, [former owner Mark Fielder] came down with a severe illness," he said. "We'd been talking about merging over the summer, but nothing came of it. Then, when he got sick, his wife knew we'd been talking and she called me and we came up with a deal. It closed pretty quickly."

CS has an office here, as well as corporate offices in Palm Desert, Calif.

This isn't just a matter of helping out a former competitor, however. "It was a good fit for us," Snair said, "because they primarily do high-end residential work up in the Tahoe area, and everyone knows the normal production work isn't doing too well, but the super-rich are still building their multi-million dollar homes. I'd rather do a couple of those for the same money as 12 product homes."

Snair said his business is split just about evenly between product builds, specialty builds, and commercial installations. Of that work, about 35 percent is in security, he said, with the rest in home integration, A/V, lighting control and home theater. Revenues are at roughly $10 million annually.

CS will retain Domus's five employees, bringing the total to about 75, as well as its brand. "They've got a strong name up there," Snair reasoned. "I didn't want to lose any momentum on that." He's also brought on Dave Hoppe, formerly of Interface Greater Alarm, to manage the Reno offices.

One of the things Hoppe will be focusing on is high-end access control for gated communities. Snair said CS has been doing good business using license-plate recognition, which can either allow access or enunciate to a guard who's approaching the gate. "We've done about a half-dozen communities this year," he said, "and we see that being a great growth segment for us."