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Airtronics to Manufacture Steel System Components to Protect Vacant Properties

SAN JOSE, Calif.--The recent spate of abandoned and foreclosed properties during the economic downturn has spurred demand for board-up services to protect those properties from vandalism. Finding plywood ineffective at preventing break-ins, city officials in such major U.S. metropolises as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Houston are calling for the use of a new steel reinforcement system to secure vacant properties. The steel system is the product of Chicago-based Vacant Property Security (VPS), which recently awarded San Jose's Airtronics Metal Products, Inc., a contract to manufacture its heavy-gauge steel doors, frames, window screens, and other system components.

Airtronics Metal Products (www.airtronics.com) is a full-service, precision sheet metal products company that provides standard and custom engineering, design, production, and value-added manufacturing services to technology innovators nationwide. From its 90,000-square-foot facility in San Jose's Enterprise Zone, the ISO 9001: 2000 registered company specializes in custom precision sheet metal cabinets for the electronics, telecommunications, medical, and instrumentation industries, among others.

"We have found working with Airtronics to be a very positive experience," said Timothy McMahon, VPS director of U.S. operations, in a statement. "Their sense of urgency, innovative approach to exceeding our specifications, and proactively solving problems is extraordinary."

Vacant Property Security's system consists of modular window guards, steel doors, and adjustable steel sheeting, which VPS technicians fit externally over property openings to eliminate leverage points where a thief could use a crowbar to break in. Perforations in the window screens allow light filtration and air circulation, so that contractors can work and buyers can move around comfortably inside. Keyless, digitally controlled doors provide owners with access control.

Property owners rent the system, paying only for as long as they need to protect their vacant property. The VPS system is currently being used in dozens of major cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Houston.

"Vacant Property Security offers the most effective system for protecting unoccupied properties, and we are proud to be a part of this solution," said Jeff Burke, president and CEO of Airtronics. "We like the fact the system is green; all of the metal fittings are reusable, unlike plywood, which is discarded."