Up until the fourth quarter of last year, Devcon Security, Hollywood, Fla. operated nine branches, seven of them in Florida and two in New York. Fast forward to the end of June, and the company has built out its regional business into a nationwide platform with 52 branches and more than 900 employees.
Robert Farenhem, president and chief executive officer at Devcon, comments that the expansion started out in the Southeast United States and grew in scope as a direct result of the availability of talent resulting from recent changes in the industry. Notwithstanding a difficult economy, the company saw an opening that could not be missed. “There was a unique opportunity to do it now,” Farenhem relates. “We had become very aware that towards the end of last year there was talent becoming available. We felt after meeting with some of those folks that the culture we had as a company was very consistent with what we were finding.