Owen Security Scales New Heights While Maintaining Local Provider Appeal
As a leading security provider in North Georgia and beyond, Owen Security earns a SSI 2020 Installer of the Year runner-up honor.
It was another incredibly impressive showing for SSI’s Integrated Installation and Installer of the Year Awards. Read about the winners and runners-up throughout the month of July by visiting the Best of the Best page.
Eclipsing a 10% annual growth rate and achieving revenues of more than $6.5 million in 2019 did not come by accident for Owen Security Solutions, a full-service security provider based in Calhoun, Ga.
The company attributes its continuing success to a dedicated team of 40 employees and the acknowledgement that some of its processes and procedures needed to be modified in order to remain scalable, explains April Chastain, director of operations.
“The leadership team held brainstorming sessions with employees from each department to hear concerns, suggestions and encourage employee feedback,” Chastain says. “Not only has this method helped tremendously in identifying areas for improvement, it has also boosted the morale of the team and inspired conversations that may not have surfaced otherwise.”
She adds, “We have also continued to see success in our commitment to offering the same innovative technology and services that are expected from national companies, while focusing on building and maintaining relationships with our customers and communities.”
Owen Security’s main market sectors consist of residential, small and large commercial, industrial, multifamily, healthcare, government, retail and food service industries. The company conducts weekly leadership and departmental meetings to discuss, deploy and refine new operational plans in real time. Growth targets involve the further development of its A/V and gate divisions, along with growing its base of commercial and industrial clientele.
Among its successful initiatives, the company developed a committee in late 2019 that is primarily responsible for examining policies and procedures to ensure the business is operating in the most streamlined and efficient way possible. It also launched and incorporated proprietary client-tracking sales software, which manages new customers from the point of introduction through the completion of the install and customer onboarding. The software has helped boost interdepartmental communication and efficiency, which, in turn, improves the customer experience.
These aren’t the only recent business initiatives to be bearing significant fruit.
“The marketing department has also created a series of advertisements that concentrates on building and strengthening the relationship the company has with local small businesses,” Sales Manager Joseph Weatherford says. “Our team designed graphics, blogs and videos that feature our customer’s businesses, captures their social media audience, and publicizes their recommendation of Owen Security Solutions.”
The business is led by CEO Justin Owen, whose father Gary Owen founded the company in 1973. Under Justin’s leadership — he assumed ownership in 2010 — Owen Security has grown to be one of the largest security system and technology providers in Georgia. Having expanded its service footprint throughout North Georgia and the Tennessee Valley, the company continues to maintain its original business model, emphasizing the benefits, customizations and personal touches offered by a locally-owned and operated company.
Despite the company’s successes, scalability of processes and procedures has emerged as a top challenge for the business, explains Chastain. Owen Security is confronting the issue strategically. In recent workshops, leadership has focused their efforts on how to contend with the growing amount of work by adding resources to the business judiciously.
“While each department faces challenges of their own as the company continues to grow,” she says, “our operations team is taking steps to identify problematic areas, bridge gaps that could cause hiccups for our customers in the future, and determine which processes can be automated to ensure continuity in workflow for future growth.”
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