SIA New Member Profile: The Cook & Boardman Group

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member the Cook & Boardman Group (C&B) is a major distributor of commercial doors, frames and hardware, electronic access control equipment and specialty products and provides full systems integration services through its portfolio of national and regional security systems integration businesses. The company is headquartered in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and operates 70 branch locations in 21 states: Alabama, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, North Carolina, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont and Washington.

SIA spoke with C&B Senior Vice President of Strategic Integration Solutions Mark Duato about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

Tell us the story of your company.

Mark Duato: Cook & Boardman was founded in 1955 in Charlotte, North Carolina, as a value-added distribution company serving architects and contractors in the non-residential construction market. The company has expanded through organic growth and strategic acquisitions to become the nation’s leading distributor of commercial doors, frames and hardware, electronic access control equipment and specialty (Division 10) products.

C&B is also one of the nation’s fastest-growing providers of integrated security solutions – including physical security, access control, wireless networking, low voltage cabling, audio/visual and managed information technology products. The company serves multifamily and non-residential markets, including the commercial, education, government, health care, office and hospitality sectors.

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings/company unique?

Mark Duato: The Cook & Boardman Group companies, including its security integration solutions businesses A3 Communications, Advantech, 3Sixty Integrated, Bass Security and BlueViolet Networks, collectively represent the nation’s largest comprehensive secure opening solutions provider of commercial doors, frames, hardware, electronic security solutions, network infrastructure and related specialty products.

Our end-to-end opening solutions capabilities are unique to the traditional security industry, encompassing early-stage predesign, deployment and coordination of complex secure openings via our CSI MasterFormat Division 8-focused distribution businesses working in close collaboration with our Division 27 and Division 28 secure network communications, security integration and aftermarket services businesses. As such, the impact is well-planned, well-designed and well-coordinated project execution, from inception through construction, commissioning and aftermarket support, therein eliminating significant time-consuming and expensive system deployment issues which typically arise in security projects due to lack of coordination between subdivisions.

Our expertise in the early-stage design and implementation of life safety and complex secure opening solutions across divisions and geographies establish C&B as a one-of-a-kind cross-functional parent business with an unparalleled deep reach across the architectural, consulting, engineering, general contractor and end user communities.

What is something we might not know about your company – or something new you are doing in security?

MD: Cook & Boardman’s 30 brand companies across the United States epitomize our “National Presence. Local Service” mantra. The coordination of secure integration and total opening solutions expertise across the portfolio of brands/companies delivers significant incremental value to our vendor partners, general contractors and end customers by managing the most complex elements of security deployment projects across various contracting disciplines. C&B’s significant investments across these complementary arenas are reflective of the complexities and advancements in delivering and deploying security innovations, and in the increasing demand for highly functional integrated openings within business enterprises and across vertical market segments.     

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

MD: The Security Industry Association is critically important to Cook & Boardman, to our associated businesses and to the global security industry on the whole as an organization which delivers every day on its mission to be a catalyst for success in providing information, insight and influence on critical security-related issues. C&B’s membership in SIA serves as a gateway for the alignment of strategic business relationships, as well as an educational forum, networking tool and platform for industry engagement. As C&B’s business profile expands within the global security industry and within SIA itself, our hope is that like-minded industry entrepreneurs will appreciate and value the uniqueness of the company’s broad portfolio of capabilities in providing life safety solutions throughout the industry.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.