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Effective March 1, 2006, Per Mar Security Services acquired the accounts and assets of CentralCom, Inc. in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.  Prior to the sale, Lee and Kathy Bernardo, Wayne Hilgart, and Michael Skalecke owned and operated CentralCom.  CentralCom has been serving the needs of approximately 300 customers throughout the state of Wisconsin for ten years with a team of experienced fire and security alarm professionals, all of whom will become Per Mar employees.  We will now serve those customers through our branch office located in Wausau (WI), where Ken Nerison serves as general manager.

CentralCom has a reputation for providing quality service and we are very pleased to have been able to acquire the company.  The addition of CentralCom to Per Mar's long-established operations in the Wausau/Stevens Point market will, first and foremost, add some more great people to our team, and, second, further expand our customer base in the area.

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On February 21, 2005, just prior to Per Mar's Annual All-General Managers Meeting held in Davenport, the company recognized several members of its team for their performance in 2005.  Those recognized were:

Kurt Carlson, Green Bay - Physical Security GM of the Year
Kurt has worked diligently in the last few years to strengthen customer relationships, especially with his largest customer, often meeting very demanding staffing requirements.  In 2005, he exceeded his business plan.  Using great customer service skills, Kurt maintained 100% of his customers in 2005.  He also transformed a basic security officer program for a government contracted facility to a superior security program; while tripling the amount of billable hours. Kurt started, and maintained, one of the top five largest single facility customers in the company.  He grew his permanent business twice the budgeted number for 2005.

Mike Weiland, Cedar Rapids - Electronic Security GM of the Year
In 2005, Mike's business unit exceeded budgeted expectations.  He also grew his business unit by 8% compared to the previous year.  All the while, Mike has continued to increase his knowledge of our industry.  He is self-motivated to succeed and has worked endlessly to support all of the people on his teams.  In addition to performing the normal duties of a General Manager, due to the current size of the branch, this GM wears several other hats including Service and Installation Manager.

Steve Sabatke, Per Mar Centre - Division GM of the Year
Steve is a solid team player, as well as someone who sets and achieves goals.  Steve also personifies Per Mar's values of integrity, communication, excellent service and accountability and is, most definitely, a great leader (i.e., he shares our core values and achieves results).  Steve has traveled regularly to all of his branches to provide support and to meet personally with customers and his teams.  In 2005, his division exceeded budgeted expectations.  Steve also grew his business unit by 21% compared to 2004.

President's Awards
In addition to the above awards, there were ten President's Awards given to recognize those who both exemplify our core values of integrity, communication, excellent service, and accountability and who achieved excellent results.  All of those who received awards were nominated by others, in some cases, by several others.

President's Award - Amy Goodwin, Manager, Benefits, PMC
One of those nominated by several people was Amy.  Even though she is based at PMC, Amy is truly a "field" person, having spent time in many of our branch offices this past year.  She has developed a reputation for her willingness to do whatever she can to make sure people have the information they need regarding benefits.  Over the past year, Amy has been somewhat challenged by the continuing growth of our Physical Security division.  She's had to keep up with multiple benefit programs and has worked to be of assistance to the Physical Security Business Development Managers and the General Managers.  Even while handling her multiple responsibilities, she keeps her focus on our people.  Amy is an exceptional team player, always willing to pitch in whenever and wherever needed.  Since joining Per Mar, she has grown personally and professionally.

President's Award - Jim Brown, Electronic Security Technician, Quad Cities
Jim is someone who truly believes in going above and beyond the call to duty.  Without hesitation, he can be counted on to work extended hours, travel great distances, sometimes be away from his family for days at a time, and generally do whatever it takes to provide excellent customer service.  Jim's behind the scene style of leadership and extraordinary efforts throughout his years with Per Mar, and in particular last year, have been instrumental in the continued success of his team and our company.

President's Award - Steve Owen, Senior Technician-Midwest Alarm Services, Cedar Rapids
Steve is consistently a team player.  He has distinguished himself as a technician since joining our company in 2002.  Steve always has the time to answer a question or help out another technician.  When Steve says "I'll take care of it," you know that it will be taken care of properly.  He has developed into a trainer at Midwest, training other technicians.  Steve has handled the most difficult and complicated systems and proven himself to be among the very best in the industry.
Steve is always willing to go out on that last service call or finish up something that goes beyond normal hours.  He has earned the respect and admiration of everyone with whom he works.  By virtue of his performance and great attitude, Steve has stepped up to become a leader of others.

President's Award - Josh Manring, Electronic Security Consultant, Rockford
Throughout 2005, Josh made an extraordinary effort to become the "go to" sales consultant for the Rockford branch.  In addition to increasing his own knowledge of the technical aspects of sales, he positioned himself as a strong resource for other security consultants and consistently proved to be a true team player.  Even with aggressive sales goals, Josh was able to exceed his goals.  These sales results earned him the designation as a Grand Champion by the Security Network of America (SNA).

President's Award - Toni Furan, Physical Security Operations Manager, Madison
As the operations manager, Toni oversaw more than $3 million in business in 2005 and managed overtime to 1.56% - a remarkable accomplishment.  Lead by GM Dale Steffes, Toni and her team increased their business by 14% last year by diligently saying "yes" to every call for temporary business; averaging over 200 hours of temporary service per week.  Toni also oversaw special events for the University of Wisconsin and consistently achieved staffing levels for every major special event.  Toni has a great attitude and even though putting in long hours in support of her team and clients, she still found the time to make it to her son's hockey games.

President's Award - Kyle Twite, Electronic Security Technician, La Crosse
Kyle is one of the Electronic Security Division's top performers.  Even when presented with challenges, Kyle thrives on getting the job done and is constantly an example for others to follow.  In addition to ensuring that all projects with which he is involved are finished on schedule, he always seems to find the time to share his knowledge with others (one of the true qualities of a leader).  He takes a great deal of pride in his work, is always on time, and consistently maintains a great attitude.  Kyle has also consistently worked hard to satisfy some of our more demanding customers.

President's Award - Chuck Laitinen, Physical Security GM, Minneapolis
Chuck grew his business unit by 124% over the previous year.  He also managed to control non-billable overtime to about one half of a percent of revenue - the best in the division.  Chuck has created very strong relationships with his customers, which have resulted in many "add-on" sales at his accounts.  He actually started the Minneapolis branch from scratch with zero business, and after nine months began making a positive contribution to the bottom line.  Chuck has been a great addition to our team, with his attitude, energy, and winning smile rubbing off on everyone he meets.

President's Award - Bill Fell, Special Events Supervisor, Madison
Bill has been with Per Mar for over twenty years and has worked for our client at the University of Wisconsin for a total of 33 years.  He embodies everything good that you would like to see in a team member.  In fact, some customers consider Bill to be "Per Mar" in their eyes.  He has supervised and coordinated literally hundreds of projects and events, from concerts to athletic events.  He has participated in every high school athletic championship event since these events have been staged at our customer's venue.  Bill himself is no stranger to athletics, having played semi-pro hockey.  He is so well known at the University of Wisconsin that the tunnel where the home team enters the Kohl Center is referred to as "Bill's Corner".

President's Award - Tim Smith, Director of Customer Service, PMC
Tim was nominated for this honor by several people.  All of those who recommended him praised Tim for a great attitude, his willingness, and ability to consistently go the extra mile to help others, and for getting the job done.  Tim has assumed ever increasing responsibility since he joined our company several years ago and has worked on numerous special projects.  Throughout his time with Per Mar he has grown as a manager and leader in our company.  In fact, he is, without a doubt, a leader who "walks the talk" and lives up to Per Mar's values on a daily basis.  Tim is a man of integrity and a strong team player who consistently meets or exceeds expectations.  We are fortunate to have him on our team.  This is the second time that Tim has received this honor.

President's Award - Blake Finch, Vice President of Support, Electronic Security, PMC
Blake has been a part of the Per Mar team for many years and is still always working to improve our company.  He is the "go to person" when any number of things develop and is also the first person to offer assistance in his business unit when it's needed.  Over the years, Blake has held way too many positions in our company for me to list them all.  In every instance, however, he has performed to the highest standards and made a lasting contribution.  Blake is not only a leader, he is a gentleman, and a scholar when it comes to both our business and our company.  Because of this, he serves as a great source of historical information and is often on the receiving end of such questions as "have you ever heard of such and such?" and "how have we handled this in the past?"  Blake is also a genuinely nice guy who personifies our core values of integrity, communications, excellent service, and accountability.

Leadership In Action Award
Steve Sabatke, VP & General Manager, Physical Security

At Per Mar, we are committed to developing leaders throughout our organization.  We believe that leadership is the only way we will continue to grow and develop as a company.  Excellent leadership is how we will perpetuate our corporate culture and, as a result, perpetuate Per Mar Security Services.  The second annual Leadership in Action award was presented to Steve Sabatke.
Steve is someone who has clearly provided outstanding leadership to his business unit.  We see evidence of this in his desire to not only improve as a leader himself, but his efforts to raise the leadership abilities - and thus the effectiveness - of those on his team.  We see proof of his leadership in his application of the laws of magnetism, buy in, and momentum.  First, we see "the law of magnetism" in the way he has attracted some really great people to his business unit and in the growing strength of his teams.  Second, we see "the law of buy in" in the way he has convinced his staffs to aggressively grow their businesses - especially their short term, on-call work.  Third, we see the "law of momentum" in the way he has continued to build on the successes of the last few years.  Steve is a leader who places his people first and, as a result, has achieved record setting results.

We are very proud of all of the recipients of these awards and pleased to have them on our team!

Fact of the Month: Saint Patrick's Day has come to be associated with everything Irish: anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. Most importantly, to those who celebrate its intended meaning, St. Patrick's Day is a traditional day for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide.

Drug dealers in the workplace have become increasingly sophisticated and difficult to uncover. One unnamed food processing company discovered this the hard way, after a four-month investigation sparked by an anonymous call to the corporate hotline revealed the presence of four drug dealing employees who had been selling illegal drugs to more than 20 other employees. Marijuana is the most prevalent illegal drug found in the workplace, but cocaine and methamphetamines are also big concerns. Experts in the drug testing industry say that many companies are reevaluating their drug testing programs, with one trend being a dual-testing approach of urine testing and hair testing for pre-employment screening. Saliva testing, pupillometry, and blood testing are other forms of drug testing that are used in varying degrees of frequency. Numerous products are available, especially via the Internet, to help people pass drug tests or adulterate testing specimens, but few companies test for the presence of adulterants. Companies have been lax about creating or updating substance-abuse policies, but it is important for companies to update their policies to keep abreast of current laws and trends. For example, a policy that prohibits the use of drugs on company property does not necessarily prohibit the use of drugs on company time, meaning that a worker could use the loophole to get high during an off-site lunch break.

Source: Security Management (02/06) Vol. 50, No. 2, P. 50 ; Gips, Michael A.

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Threats from inside the company make up a significant portion of many businesses' security concerns; because employees must, by the nature of their jobs, have access to some confidential information, they pose serious risks of either deliberate or accidental leakage of proprietary data. However, there are a number of steps companies can take to reduce the risk of employee-related security breaches. Companies should first take an inventory of their possible risks to see what the biggest potential problems are, and develop a security plan based on the most common risks. Some of the most serious risks can be reduced by developing a more careful, security-minded hiring system. Many industries are working on databases that companies can consult to determine whether an employee has been disciplined or fired before for security-related matters. However, many insider security problems are not caused by "bad" employees, but simply by workers who accidentally release information because they do not have enough knowledge of proper security procedures. Clearly written policies and a strong security-training program can help reduce this type of incident. Limiting access to data based only on whether a given employee needs the data in order to do his or her job also reduces security breaches; data should be classified according to its level of security and which employees need access to it. Encryption and monitoring tools can also be used to prevent employees from accessing or releasing proprietary information.

Source: Wall Street Journal (02/13/06) P. R1 ; Totty, Michael

Travel Tip: If you are bumped involuntarily and the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to get you to your final destination (including later connections) within one hour of your original scheduled arrival time, there is no compensation.
If the airline arranges substitute transportation that is scheduled to arrive at your destination between one and two hours after your original arrival time (between one and four hours on international flights), the airline must pay you an amount equal to your one-way fare to your final destination, with a $200 maximum.
If the substitute transportation is scheduled to get you to your destination more than two hours later (four hours internationally), or if the airline does not make any substitute travel arrangements for you, the compensation doubles (200% of your fare, $400 maximum).

Purdue University opens a research center to develop tools for analyzing information that could warn officials of a terrorist attack, and assist emergency responders. A kickoff event will take place for the Purdue University Regional Visualization and Analytics Center Tuesday, March 7. Jim Thomas, director of the Department of Homeland Security National Visualization and Analytics Center, and Eric Dietz, executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, will explain how the center will develop technology to improve national security. Thomas said the center will equip a team of Purdue and Indiana University School of Medicine researchers to create tools to analyze vast amounts of information involving intelligence analysis, emergency planning and healthcare monitoring. The team's tools will then be deployed for use by homeland security and emergency response personnel.

Source: http://news.uns.purdue.edu/hp/Ebert.Purvac.html

Quote of the Month: "May your glass be ever full. May the roof over your head be always strong. And may you be in heaven half an hour before the devil knows you're dead." - An Irish toast