UTC Fire & Security announced during ASIS International that it will launch Red Hawk as its premier security services brand in the United States. John Skowronski, director of strategy and marketing for UTC Fire & Security, Farmington, Conn., explained that U.S. customers associate the Red Hawk name with high customer satisfaction and good delivery of service.
The new company unified existing Red Hawk, Chubb and ACP Engineering branches, as well as the recently acquired Initial Electronics units in the Midwest, Northeast and mid-Atlantic.
Skowronski said UTC decided against using the Chubb name, although it is strong outside the United States, because of its association in the U.S. with the Chubb Insurance Group, to which it is unrelated.
UTC Fire & Security is a business unit of United Technologies Corp. UTC Fire & Security acquired Red Hawk, an integrated physical and electronic security provider, in October 2006, which tripled the size of its U.S. operation, according to the company.
The addition of Initial Electronics’ six branch locations, acquired in July 2007, added large systems integration capabilities and further strengthened the company’s electronic security service network.
Red Hawk’s headquarters will remain in Denver. The newly integrated company has approximately 1,100 employees and a total of 30 sales and service offices across the U.S., including locations in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Boston and Denver.
Skowronski revealed that several small security industry acquisitions may be in the works, but nothing large-scale. He said the company also was looking at companies globally.
He predicted the growth of Red Hawk, which is strong in banking, as is Initial, would be both organic and through acquisition.
Initial Electronics was honored asSDM’s 2006 Systems Integrator of the Year. It was founded in 1985 in Chicago as NTC Electronics.
Red Hawk Industries ranked No. 8 onSDM’s Top Systems Integrators Report, published in July 2007 before Red Hawk officially acquired Initial Electronics. For more information, visitwww.redhawkindustries.com.
