Coffee Break with Jake

This week Jake Voll sits down with Brian Duffy, third generation CEO of Per Mar Security Services in Davenport, Iowa. His grandparents only stayed in town because a bank turned down a $100 loan to fix their broken-down car in 1953, and the company now runs electronic security, fire alarm and a security officer business across the upper Midwest, with about 2,500 employees and roughly 100 acquisitions behind it. Brian talks about earning his stripes at Capital One before coming home, what all those deals have taught him, and why staying family owned is simply how Per Mar plans to keep winning.

In this episode, we talk about...

✅ The $100 loan that got denied and kept the family in Davenport
✅ Three years at Capital One, and why working outside the family business first built his confidence
✅ Starting as a general manager in Cedar Rapids without knowing the equipment
✅ Keeping a family culture at 2,500 employees, and why manager retention matters most
✅ What roughly 100 acquisitions teach you, including when to trust your gut and walk away
✅ Why sellers choose Per Mar, and why a 100 account deal can still make sense
✅ Closing day: the customer letter, the data in the system, and moving monitoring in house fast
✅ LiveShield video monitoring, talk down, and video as business intelligence
✅ Where security officers still beat cameras, and why independence is the whole plan

Coffee Break With Jake is recorded live every Friday at 11am ET. Join us live or register to attend at https://go.ssandsi.com/coffeebreak