By Joseph S. Pete, Daily Journal of Johnson County
A once fast-growing Greenwood company has closed.
American Sentry Guard, a producer of high-tech surveillance systems, has shut down its headquarters in the Polk Place office complex. The high-tech firm had been one of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the country, according to Inc. Magazine.
Founded in Greenwood in 1999, American Sentry Guard provided security systems to banks, convenience stores and the military. Its revenue was about $10 million last year.
But major clients had backed away from deals over the past 18 months, which forced the company into a difficult financial position, investor Jonathan Byrd II said. He said he wasn't in a position to comment on specifics.
"I'm just saddened," he said. "It was a fantastic company with a fantastic product, but it fell victim to circumstances completely outside its control."
Owner Jeff Brummett was not available for comment Friday.
The company's phone line was disconnected. Its office at a former tomato cannery in Old Town was cleared out and locked.
Byrd invested in a small stake in the firm after it equipped Jonathan Byrd's Cafeteria with a state-of-the-art security system. The company had tremendous potential in a growth industry but started to suffer after major clients walked away from commitments, he said.
American Sentry Guard's other clients included banks, casinos, convenience stores, factories, retailers and all four branches of the military. The company provided surveillance systems for Casino Aztar in Evansville and the presidential yacht.
The company, which distributed its products nationally, employed about 40 workers in Greenwood.
"It's always a shame to see the community lose jobs," city council member Bruce Armstrong said. "It's especially unfortunate when you're talking about good jobs from such a high-tech company."
Brummett started American Sentry Guard just before digital surveillance took off and many companies and governments started replacing old videotape systems.
American Sentry Guard developed intelligent security systems that linked digital video with information from other computer networks, such as sales transaction records. A security camera, for instance, automatically would index footage every time a cashier rang up a single 99-cent item so the manager could check if clerks were letting friends walk out with merchandise.
Common uses of the company's cameras were to evaluate customer service and prevent theft, employee fraud and workman's compensation fraud, Brummett said in an earlier interview.
As more retailers, factories and police departments switched to digital, the company's income skyrocketed. Revenue increased by nearly 900 percent from 2003 to 2006, according to Inc. Magazine.
In 2006 and 2007, American Sentry Guard was named to the Inc. 500, an annual list that ranks privately owned companies by revenue growth.
Byrd said the firm had a contingency plan, so it might be able to return at some point under different circumstances.