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SECUriTY SYSTEMS NEWS april 2016 www.securitysystemsnews.com CommerCial & systems integrators 23 1.877. 213.1222 • samsung-security.com A complete video surveillance solution that integrates imaging, recording and management the we've got right future Pro-Tec Design has new owners, opts for ESOP By Martha Entwistle MINNEAPOLIS—Tom Hagen, long- time president and owner of inde- pendent integration frm Pro-Tec Design, is the latest security execu- tive to choose ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) as an exit strategy. As of Feb. 1, the company is now 100-percent employee-owned, Tim Ferrian, VP of sales and marketing and former SSN "20 under 40" award winner, told Security Systems News. "Day-to-day operations of the company don't change. We all still do what we did in January when the company was owned by Tom. The only difference is that we all now work for our- selves," Ferrian said. Pro-Tec joins Tech Systems, another independent integrator, in becoming employee-owned. Both companies are PSA Security owners. While he was approached multi- ple times to sell Pro-Tec, Tom Hagen said the ESOP option "emerged as the pathway for me to achieve my goals … of a good future for my family, for Pro-Tec's employees and for our customers and suppliers." The current management team has been working on the ESOP transition for more than a year. That team includes Ferrian; Eva Mach, former CFO who is now president and CEO of Pro-Tec; and Paul Dykema, VP of operations. Hagen explained that because an ESOP is a tax-free entity, "the money we pay each year in federal and state taxes became available to help fnance the transaction. The agreement was structured as a stock sale rather than an asset sale, which would normally be the case, creat- ing meaningful tax savings for me as the seller." For the employees, the ESOP "creates energy, excitement and opportunity to make a difference and reimagine what the potential of this company can be," Hagen said. Ferrian said that in the three weeks since the deal closed, he's seen evidence that employees feel more ownership in the company. He said he's excited to see "how the change in our company structure impacts peoples' view of their role and how that refection changes the way they interact with our clients." Ferrian predicts that "our idea of customer service will change dramatically for the better." Based here, Pro-Tec has 45 employees and 400 clients, which include Ashley Furniture, Best Buy Company, Boston Scientifc, 3M, Target, State of Minnesota, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Hagen will continue with Pro-Tec as a consultant and as chairman of the board of directors. He will also continue to serve on the PSA Security Network board of direc- tors. SSN Tim Ferrian and video, but they don't moni- tor those systems, he said. At Northland's GSOC, opera- tors are seated at work stations that are outfitted with four large monitors. At frst glance, it looks like a high-tech central station, but Morgante points out the difference. "With video monitoring, you have people staring at monitors. At a GSOC, the monitoring is event-driven," he said. When there's a door forced open, for example, or some other incident, "you need to have an intelligent, trained human reviewing the incident and following that corporation's specifc policies and procedures. That's event- driven monitoring," he said. The second component of the GSOC service, user GSOC Continued from previous page GSOC see page 24