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Your Home Is Your Fortress?
Maryland Firm Bets a 'Safe Room' Boom Is at Hand
By Ellen McCarthy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 3, 2003; Page E01
You can keep your duct tape and your flimsy gas masks. Jeff Quante prefers steel. Several thousand pounds of it, actually, with reinforced screws and bullet-resistant glass. It should be big enough for at least two people, protected with high-security locks and attached to an air purification system. And if that steel is painted silver with black accents like a Cadillac -- well, all the better.
The safe-room business is not big; there are no numbers available that show how many of these ultimate-security products are sold in the United States each year, but it is probably a relatively small market served by custom construction companies. Zytech Engineering LLC, a Maryland manufacturing company, hopes to be one of them, and is taking a decidedly proletarian tack. While safe rooms, which are designed to guard inhabitants from hazards ranging from bullets to mustard gas, have mostly been sold to high-ranking government officials and especially fearful and rich private citizens, Quante and his partners are laboring under the hope that, very soon, everyone in America will be wanting one.
"Once you're in here, the bad guys stay out there," claims the serious, dark-suited announcer on Zytech's television commercials. Sturdy young men in hard hats portray villains pounding away with sledgehammers, but the structure appears impenetrable and a previously vulnerable family is shown frolicking happily through a green field by the end of the ad.
As the frequency of terror warnings increases, more companies will undoubtedly spring up offering products to protect the frightened masses. Zytech's founders are trying to beat the rush.
"The TV spots are designed to create name recognition," said Quante, 55, a mild-mannered man who speaks with a measured tone, despite the alarmist nature of his business. "We want to let people know we're here, so that when terrorist events begin to unveil themselves, people will know we're here."
Zytech Engineering, founded last March and based north of Baltimore, is the brainchild of Quante and two other security industry veterans. Quante has spent most of his career designing protective spaces for celebrities and political dignitaries. Co-founder Nelson Bolton runs a company in Pennsylvania that makes bullet-resistant laminates, and Eric Dunn, who brought the three together, is the chief executive Dunn Industries Inc., a Northeast, Md., firm that makes storage tanks for petroleum and chemicals. Bolton put up the money for Zytech to get off the ground, though he declined to say how much.
The three originally set out to make stations for security personnel but found that to be too crowded an industry, so Quante began designing big-ticket products for wealthy individuals worried about crime. Many of the nondescript units resemble portable toilets from the outside, though most are deeper and weigh at least 2,640 pounds.
Three nearly completed safe rooms recently sitting on the floor of Dunn Industries -- the company is the sole manufacturer of Zytech's products -- were headed for a single customer in the Midwest. The client, whose name Quante would not reveal, requested that one of the three units contain a second, recessed door with a peephole and gun mount so that if intruders somehow broke through the first door, they might be greeted with bullets.
Burglary and crime may have always been a danger, but Zytech's success depends on the relatively new fears of chemical and biological attacks or bombs.
"We are succumbing to a generic lifestyle like they have in Israel," said Dunn, Zytech's director of manufacturing. "Our corporate objective is to make high-end protection available to middle-class Americans."
But many middle-class Americans may need some persuading before they are ready to cough up the money for a Zytech safe room. The units start at about $17,000 for a basic room without customization. Larger rooms with more amenities can pass the $50,000 mark.
First-aid kits, emergency lighting and high-security locks come standard with each safe room. Secured ventilation and chemical filtration systems cost more, as do cellular phones and flip-down seats. Windows, gun ports and carpeting are also available, as is any other conceivable thing a customer is willing to pay for, Quante said.
Many of the other companies intend for their products to be used in the event of tornadoes and hurricanes. Quante said Zytech's products are designed and tested according to the standards used by the U.S. State Department for the residents of diplomats overseas. They also meet ballistics standards created by Underwriters Laboratories.
The certification process includes 15-minute and 60-minute onslaughts designed to simulate the actions of an unruly mob. Teams of six men weighing no less than 180 pounds use crowbars, sledgehammers, chisels and screwdrivers in attempts to enter the room. Even a slight penetration means the product has failed.
Zytech's executives argue that many people spend tens of thousands of dollars resurfacing kitchen counters or installing home Jacuzzis, investments that may seem frivolous in the face of danger.
The company is hoping to create partnerships with high-end home builders that will offer the rooms as built-in features. Quante is also working on less-expensive designs using plastics and composites that he expects will be available by the summer and is acting as a reseller for plastic tents designed by an Israeli company.
"This was our first product, but it is the top of the line," Quante said. "We started with the Rolls-Royce, but pretty soon we're going to make Volkswagen."
So far Zytech has eight definite orders and four more that are pending. The firm's founders predict the reception they get at this week's Washington Home and Garden Show will be an indicator of their future success.
For his part, Jeff Quante is convinced. He believes it will not be long before all 115,000 square feet of Dunn Industries is dedicated to making Zytech's products and that the company could have a public offering within the next five years.
And as the founders often note, Zytech's safe rooms have many uses beyond providing havens from terrorists. They can be used as vaults for jewelry or art or as gun storage units. They can even serve as wine cellars, and there may be no better time to uncork that 1953 Bordeaux than while relaxing in your safe room as doom unfolds all around.
Your Home Is Your Fortress?
Maryland Firm Bets a 'Safe Room' Boom Is at Hand
By Ellen McCarthy
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, March 3, 2003; Page E01
You can keep your duct tape and your flimsy gas masks. Jeff Quante prefers steel. Several thousand pounds of it, actually, with reinforced screws and bullet-resistant glass. It should be big enough for at least two people, protected with high-security locks and attached to an air purification system. And if that steel is painted silver with black accents like a Cadillac -- well, all the better.
The safe-room business is not big; there are no numbers available that show how many of these ultimate-security products are sold in the United States each year, but it is probably a relatively small market served by custom construction companies. Zytech Engineering LLC, a Maryland manufacturing company, hopes to be one of them, and is taking a decidedly proletarian tack. While safe rooms, which are designed to guard inhabitants from hazards ranging from bullets to mustard gas, have mostly been sold to high-ranking government officials and especially fearful and rich private citizens, Quante and his partners are laboring under the hope that, very soon, everyone in America will be wanting one.
"Once you're in here, the bad guys stay out there," claims the serious, dark-suited announcer on Zytech's television commercials. Sturdy young men in hard hats portray villains pounding away with sledgehammers, but the structure appears impenetrable and a previously vulnerable family is shown frolicking happily through a green field by the end of the ad.
As the frequency of terror warnings increases, more companies will undoubtedly spring up offering products to protect the frightened masses. Zytech's founders are trying to beat the rush.
"The TV spots are designed to create name recognition," said Quante, 55, a mild-mannered man who speaks with a measured tone, despite the alarmist nature of his business. "We want to let people know we're here, so that when terrorist events begin to unveil themselves, people will know we're here."
Zytech Engineering, founded last March and based north of Baltimore, is the brainchild of Quante and two other security industry veterans. Quante has spent most of his career designing protective spaces for celebrities and political dignitaries. Co-founder Nelson Bolton runs a company in Pennsylvania that makes bullet-resistant laminates, and Eric Dunn, who brought the three together, is the chief executive Dunn Industries Inc., a Northeast, Md., firm that makes storage tanks for petroleum and chemicals. Bolton put up the money for Zytech to get off the ground, though he declined to say how much.
The three originally set out to make stations for security personnel but found that to be too crowded an industry, so Quante began designing big-ticket products for wealthy individuals worried about crime. Many of the nondescript units resemble portable toilets from the outside, though most are deeper and weigh at least 2,640 pounds.
Three nearly completed safe rooms recently sitting on the floor of Dunn Industries -- the company is the sole manufacturer of Zytech's products -- were headed for a single customer in the Midwest. The client, whose name Quante would not reveal, requested that one of the three units contain a second, recessed door with a peephole and gun mount so that if intruders somehow broke through the first door, they might be greeted with bullets.
Burglary and crime may have always been a danger, but Zytech's success depends on the relatively new fears of chemical and biological attacks or bombs.
"We are succumbing to a generic lifestyle like they have in Israel," said Dunn, Zytech's director of manufacturing. "Our corporate objective is to make high-end protection available to middle-class Americans."
But many middle-class Americans may need some persuading before they are ready to cough up the money for a Zytech safe room. The units start at about $17,000 for a basic room without customization. Larger rooms with more amenities can pass the $50,000 mark.
First-aid kits, emergency lighting and high-security locks come standard with each safe room. Secured ventilation and chemical filtration systems cost more, as do cellular phones and flip-down seats. Windows, gun ports and carpeting are also available, as is any other conceivable thing a customer is willing to pay for, Quante said.
Many of the other companies intend for their products to be used in the event of tornadoes and hurricanes. Quante said Zytech's products are designed and tested according to the standards used by the U.S. State Department for the residents of diplomats overseas. They also meet ballistics standards created by Underwriters Laboratories.
The certification process includes 15-minute and 60-minute onslaughts designed to simulate the actions of an unruly mob. Teams of six men weighing no less than 180 pounds use crowbars, sledgehammers, chisels and screwdrivers in attempts to enter the room. Even a slight penetration means the product has failed.
Zytech's executives argue that many people spend tens of thousands of dollars resurfacing kitchen counters or installing home Jacuzzis, investments that may seem frivolous in the face of danger.
The company is hoping to create partnerships with high-end home builders that will offer the rooms as built-in features. Quante is also working on less-expensive designs using plastics and composites that he expects will be available by the summer and is acting as a reseller for plastic tents designed by an Israeli company.
"This was our first product, but it is the top of the line," Quante said. "We started with the Rolls-Royce, but pretty soon we're going to make Volkswagen."
So far Zytech has eight definite orders and four more that are pending. The firm's founders predict the reception they get at this week's Washington Home and Garden Show will be an indicator of their future success.
For his part, Jeff Quante is convinced. He believes it will not be long before all 115,000 square feet of Dunn Industries is dedicated to making Zytech's products and that the company could have a public offering within the next five years.
And as the founders often note, Zytech's safe rooms have many uses beyond providing havens from terrorists. They can be used as vaults for jewelry or art or as gun storage units. They can even serve as wine cellars, and there may be no better time to uncork that 1953 Bordeaux than while relaxing in your safe room as doom unfolds all around.
