#20: Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms

75% growth

City: Hiawatha

Founded: 1968

hawkeye-communication.com

1st time on the list

 

Located in Hiawatha, Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms provides a variety of products and services related to security and fire alarm systems, including voice and data cabling, sound systems, design and service. The company also offers an app so clients can view security footage on mobile devices.

Pat Callanan, Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms’ president, said the company has experienced significant growth during the past six or seven years.

“We took it from just a burglar and fire alarm business to a more of an end-to-end solution with low voltage,” he said. “We made a decision to go from more of a residential to a commercial (client-based business).”

The company, which has more than 2,300 clients, will handle the initial design, installation and ongoing service of home and commercial systems. Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms serves several industries locally, including restaurants, banking, government, education, construction and industrial. Now, about 90 percent of the company’s clients are commercial.

When Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms decided to change its business, it added people and technology capabilities.

“By choice and design, we decided to get away from the basics of those things (burglar and fire alarms) and decided to take it to the full potential of it,” he said. “And that’s taken us to now, where we’re probably a 60-70 percent technology company utilizing burglar, cameras, card access.”

Licensed and certified at installing and maintaining security systems, the company is the area’s only Honeywell CSS dealer. Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms sells camera, burglar, fire, fire inspection, monitoring and card access products and accessories. And the staff provides 24/7 support.

Each of those devices is capable of performing dozens of functions but not every security company has the ability to implement those features, Mr. Callanan said. Hawkeye Communications/Fandel Alarms added technology and training to its business model in recent years to be able to implement the features clients need and want.

“We try to find out (from the client) and consult on the front end what is the need and what are you trying to accomplish and then we implement those features,” he said. “That’s when you start getting into networking, IP and programming and that’s probably what separates us apart from the others is really taking it to the highest level of what that equipment is capable of.”

-Gigi Wood