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 This year is marked by bittersweet milestones for high-tech firm Comtronics.
While the company celebrates 50 years of business, it also mourns the passing of
its founder, Phil Campau Sr., who died at home in his sleep on May 2nd.
Phil started Comtronics in his basement in
1958 and fostered the fledging company through the various stages of its
evolution in the telecommunications-electronic security industry specializing in
cellular phones, burglar alarms and video surveillance system installations.
Although his 45 year-old son, John Campau, serves as president and chief
executive officer, Phil remained actively involved, serving as chairman to the
day he died at age 71.
Family and employees remember Phil as a man who
enjoyed computers, cutting edge technology and for being a ‘tech’ at heart. He
was also a master of many trades and a devoted family man with a strong faith.
“My dad was a devout Catholic and he always said that before he died, he wanted
to go to Rome. So for his 70th birthday, we visited St. Peter’s Basilica,” said
John. “When we returned, he told everyone it was the trip of a lifetime. Little
did we know that he would die 10 months later.”
 And
while Phil is no longer able to watch his company grow and develop, his legacy
of hard work and innovation lives on. With over 100 employees and 12 store
locations, Comtronics recently landed $7 million in new alarm contracts and
continues to process over 2,000 cell phone activations and upgrades every
month.
And to think it was a couple of bungling burglars
who helped unleash the security division of the business behemoth. From its
inception, Comtronics’ name was synonymous with the sale and maintenance of
two-way radio systems. Then one night in 1970, the alarm at the company’s store
on Airport Road alerted Phil, who was at his home, that something was afoul at
the store.
Four days before Phil passed away, he recalled the
incident and shared memories in an interview with Jackson Magazine, “When the
alarm sounded, I went busting down there to see what was going on,” he said,
“When they saw someone pulling up with the car lights on, they ran off. That
helped foil the robbery.”
Though the alarm did its duty, the family
patriarch realized he couldn’t be home all the time to monitor it. “That
incident was like a wake-up call,” said Phil, “I realized I wasn’t the only one
being broken into–there’s a business idea here.”
But how could a small business with limited
resources handle around-the-clock surveillance for a large customer base? Phil’s
solution was a tribute to his ingenuity—he struck up a deal with another
business perfectly suited for the task—Horne-Vinson Ambulance Company. “I told
George Vinson, ‘Hey, let’s get a deal going,’” said Phil, who brokered an
arrangement where ambulance dispatchers would monitor his alarms in exchange for
him repairing the rescue company’s radios.
Another example of his business acumen occurred in
1974 when Phil bought five brand new, yellow ‘New York City-style’ taxi cabs and
launched the Checker Cab Company. The venture helped underwrite his fledging
24-hour alarm monitoring business. He sold the Checker Cab Company five years
later just as Jackson Transportation Authority began to cut into the cab
business.
“As always, dad’s timing was perfect,” said
John.
Through such strategic partnerships, key
acquisitions and shrewd investments, Comtronics has continued to prosper. Indeed
the business, which began as a two-way radio communication company for police
and fire, has evolved into a diversified multi-million dollar, multi-state
operation.
John Campau joined Comtronics in 1986, one year
after graduating from the University of Michigan as a business major. The former
Lumen Christi All-State football player immediately planned to grow the security
alarm business, which soared from 300 alarm customers to 8,000 today. In 1994,
he was named company president, a position he continued to hold after a merger
with Walker Capital Corp. in January 1999.
“Dad and I worked together and played together all
the time. We were best friends,” said John, adding that working side-by-side
with his father for 22 years has been the highlight of his career.
John was named Jackson County Small Business
Person of the Year in 2001 by the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce. He also
received the Jackson Citizen Patriot ‘Citizen of the Year’ award in 2006 for his
tireless efforts to save the John George Home, a residential facility for
disadvantaged elderly gentlemen, from closing.
As Comtronics expanded, it needed increasingly
larger facilities to house its equipment and staff. In the spring of 1989,
Comtronics purchased their current headquarters building, located in downtown
Jackson at One Comtronics Place. After making renovation and additions, it
opened its doors in May of 1990.
Shortly afterwards, it obtained Underwriters
Laboratory certification, which is the gold standard for alarm companies that
monitor alarms 24/7. “We realized we have a world-class facility and decided
that certification would be the perfect complement,” said Phil, adding that a
small percentage of security firms obtain UL certification, which is given to
companies that pass rigorous inspections for compliance to their
regulations.
At Comtronics’ headquarters, workers monitor a
bank of video screens in an area fortified by bulletproof glass and security
doors. To enter, people have to pass through video surveillance cameras,
electronic card readers and a biometric fingerprint detector.
Through such innovation, Comtronics landed
high-profile alarm contracts with financial institutions like Flagstar Bank and
Citizens Republic Corp. In fact, the Jackson firm recently inked a $5 million
deal to remain Citizen’s exclusive alarm and surveillance system provider in
four states. Comtronics is busy installing alarms for Flagstar Bank in Atlanta,
Georgia, where the bank began expanding three years ago.
With the banks alone, the company services over
5,000 surveillance cameras in the field. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
“We sell, install, monitor and service alarms and video surveillance systems in
nine states,” said John, who is following in his father’s footsteps by
continuing to expand and diversify the business.
While the electronic security division comprises
70 percent of Comtronics’ business, telecommunications accounts for the rest. As
the two-way radio business began to wane, Comtronics latched onto the emerging
cellular phone industry in June of 1999 and became an authorized Nextel
franchise, earning Diamond Dealer status with 400 new activations per month
within the first year. Since Alltel was added in 2003, Comtronics routinely vies
for being Alltel’s largest dealer in Michigan. | 
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