A secure future: the physical-security industry is a 830 billion market, and if one company's recent experience is any indication, that figure could increase significantly under a new federal contract

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Nov 12, 2001 | by William Glanz

The federal government long has seen the value of the bullet-resistant glass made by CompuDyne Corp. As part of a larger $3.5 billion initiative to rebuild and strengthen existing buildings, CompuDyne is installing bullet-resistant glass and attack-resistant doors in 50 U.S. embassies around the world. Multiple Federal Reserve buildings and security booths at the White House also are equipped with CompuDyne's reinforced glass and doors. So is the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, located on The Mall.

Now the once-little-known company in Hanover, Md., is fielding calls about its products from municipalities anxious to improve security around water plants to private companies worried about the safety of their employees. CompuDyne stock has risen sharply since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, up nearly 65 percent on the Nasdaq market. The company's revenue from attack-resistant products could grow from an estimated $20 million this year to $35 million in two years, according to Martin Roenigk, the company's 59-year-old president and chief executive. A new federal contract could boost revenue further. President George W. Bush signed a $5 billion spending package Sept. 21 that includes $2.5 billion to install bullet-resistant windows at the U.S. Capitol, White House and U.S. Supreme Court.

CompuDyne, with 750 employees, is the largest U.S. manufacturer of bullet-and attack-resistant doors and windows in a fractured market full of small companies. "Interest in security is going to spread beyond government to the commercial sector," says Brian Ruttenbur, a security-industry analyst at Morgan Keegan Inc. in Memphis, Tenn. "Anybody with physical security or access-control products is going to experience an absolute boom the next few years."

CompuDyne doesn't market its windows as bulletproof or its doors as attack-proof because it can't predict the force of all bullets or bomb blasts. Indeed, the term "bulletproof" is a misnomer, says Roenigk. His company's windows are up to 3 inches thick and have multiple panes of glass to make them stronger. Layers of plastic woven into each pane of glass prevent them from breaking apart.

"The plastic also acts like a catcher's mitt and absorbs the force," says Barry L. White, sales and marketing manager of CompuDyne's Norshield division, the Montgomery, Ala., manufacturer of the safety glass and doors. The windows, which can weigh up to 350 pounds, are set in metal frames that measure up to 5 inches in thickness. The frames are intended to keep the panes from bursting out of the windows.

The bullet-resistant windows cost up to $3,000 each. Security doors cost up to $6,000 each. That puts such products out of range of budget-conscious private-sector companies, says Roenigk, who is expecting only a modest boost in sales outside the government.

William Glanz writes for Insight's sister publication, the Washington Times.