Frank Viviano’s flower and gift shops across Toledo have seen their share of break-in attempts.

But the Habitec Security systems installed at four locations of Bartz Viviano Flowers & Gifts have always brought a police response fast enough to thwart a theft, Mr. Viviano said.

Over the more than 20 years that the family business has been with Habitec, the technology has gone from alarms on doors and windows connected to a dispatch to multiple cameras at each location that Mr. Viviano said he can monitor remotely from an app on his mobile phone.

“They’re always reliable,” said Mr. Viviano, 38.

Reliability, the latest security technology and local service have allowed Hollard-based Habitec to compete with the national players and maintain steady growth over its 50 years in business, said company President John Smythe whose family owns Habitec.

The company has offices in Holland, suburban Columbus and northern Michigan in Charlevoix.

Its $12 million in 2021 annual sales placed Habitec as the 42nd largest electronic security firm in the nation as ranked in the SDM 100 Report of largest firms by the security trade publication.

By comparison, the leader is Boca Raton, Fla.-based ADT with 2020 annual sales of $5.31 billion.

Habitec has 88 employees.

Mr. Smythe, 40, was thrust into the leadership of the company in 2006 at the tender age of 23 when his father James Smythe, who founded Habitec in 1972, succumbed to leukemia after a short fight with the disease.

Mr. Smythe said family and employees rallied around him to get him through the first formative months as did a board of advisors of security professionals from outside the company that were friends of James Smythe. The board stayed in place for five years, providing invaluable counsel to the new company president, he said.

At the time that his father took ill, Mr. Smythe was fresh out of the University of Dayton, working outside of Ohio in telecommunications sales.

Five years ago, Habitec was 35 percent smaller than it is today. But it has grown organically by finding new business and residential customers as well as through the select acquisition of competitors, Mr. Smythe said.

When James Smythe founded the company in 1972, the technology he used was “noise makers” that would blare when an alarm was tripped at a business or residence, Mr. Smythe said.

“My dad started the company by knocking on doors,” he said.

Soon, the company adopted more sophisticated alarms connected to a call center that allowed a person to assess situations and call police or fire departments if necessary. Even in those cases it took more than a minute to alert authorities of a problem.

Today, systems are linked to the Internet and communication is instantaneous, Mr. Smythe said. And businesses especially are having high-definition and infrared cameras installed that can detect motion at night, alert monitors right away and record untoward activities that can be easily reviewed and sent to police for response, he said.

Now, even heat-sensing technology is available to discover people who have entered prohibited areas.

Today, about 30 percent of residences nationally have some type of electronic security system, while most businesses do.

Mr. Smythe said organic growth is coming from businesses increasingly installing better, more sophisticated equipment.

Mr. Viviano said Bartz Viviano Flowers has kept up with the evolution of electronic security. That includes cameras at all locations installed about 18 months ago, apps for remote monitoring, and he said Habitec protects his family residence.

The flower and gift shop has locations in Waterville, Oregon and two in Toledo, including at 4505 Secor Rd. and The Flower Market near ProMedica Toledo Hospital.

Mr. Smythe said subscribers are split about 50/50 between business and residential customers, but the business end is fastest growing. The company has about 13,000 subscribers. It is owned by Mr. Smythe, his sister Amy Lang, who leads marketing, and Mr. Smythe’s mother and younger sister.

Habitec also has grown through acquisition.

About five years ago, it acquired a competitor in Columbus to bolster its presence there, Mr. Smythe said.

In 2015, Habitec bought all the security contracts and accounts of Toledo-based Bigelow Security, a company started by Jim Bigelow in 1996 that specialized in installing electronic security in high-end homes. A sister Bigelow company installed theater systems and audio systems that cost as much as $100,000, Mr. Bigelow said.

At its zenith, the Bigelow companies were doing $1.5 million in revenue and had 12 employees, said Mr. Bigelow, who is now Habitec director of sales. He said the company was particularly adept at working with builders to put the systems into new construction homes.

Initially, Mr. Bigelow said he had no interest in joining Habitec and wanted instead to start a basement finishing business.

But after a year of doing that, he said Mr. Smythe asked him to come aboard to help get Habitec connected to the same builders and new construction electrical contractors that had helped to make Bigelow Security a success.

Mr. Bigelow said he took the leap and did make those connections to strengthen Habitec’s penetration with builders of residential and business buildings.

Mr. Smythe said procuring talent was an important part of Habitec’s acquisition strategy.

“It’s a great team here,” he said.

So is Habitec an acquisition target for the national players?

Mr. Smythe said the family prefers to keep the company family-owned and locally based and is not interested in overtures.

First Published November 26, 2022, 1:00 p.m.