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If you visit Washington, D.C., take a stroll through the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.
Greeting you at the entrance of the new Gallery of Numismatics is a 1.5-ton vault door made by Fort Myers-based Vault Structures. Visitors will enter the exhibit through the circular 8-foot-tall vault door, the kind you might see in older banks.
Kevin McNamara, president and CEO of the company, says Smithsonian's initial call surprised him. “It just didn't seem real,” he says.
But the front-and-center exhibit at the Smithsonian is likely to boost the company's profile. “I'm sure we're going to get a lot of great publicity,” McNamara says.
Little known outside manufacturing circles, Vault Structures employs 70 people, including 55 people who work in the 40,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Fort Myers. Most of the remaining employees are in New Jersey, close to customers in the financial and pharmaceutical industries.
Vault Structures makes a variety of products from small safe-deposit boxes for banks to giant 40-foot-tall vaults in which pharmaceutical companies and transportation companies store medications. Its biggest single project was a $1.2 million vault. For obvious security reasons, the company doesn't disclose customer names.
The company also makes vaults for high-net-worth individuals, and about a third of the company's $15 million in annual sales come from overseas. “It's a very niche business,” McNamara says, who can also provide installation.
Business is rebounding after the recession. Sales had declined to $9 million annually in 2008 during the depths of the financial crisis. “Banks are still building fewer branches,” says McNamara, who says growth is stronger from pharmaceutical and transportation companies as well as jewelry stores, check-cashing businesses and gold mining.
Because nearly half of the company's business is in the Northeast U.S., the company established a location in New Jersey and has its own truck. “The biggest challenge to being in Fort Myers is transportation,” says McNamara, who hasn't moved the longtime Fort Myers-based company because key employees live in Southwest Florida.
The round vault door that Vault Structures built for the Smithsonian is unusual because the industry has moved away from circular entrances. Square doors that are as large as 14 feet wide make it easier to drive forklifts with pallets through the entrance. McNamara says it's not clear why vault doors were circular years ago.
Vault Structures' safes and doors, including the new circular door, are rigorously tested and approved by Underwriters Laboratory, a testing firm that gives products a seal of approval based on how much time it takes to break through a safe. Vault Structures uses Hercvlite, a proprietary steel composite that is lightweight but super tough.
“Anything can get broken into,” McNamara says. “Vaults are buying time.”
McNamara is particularly proud of the round vault door, which was designed by employee Sara Cheney. “It's the only round door that's UL-rated in the world,” McNamara says.
Anyone searching for a circular vault door will likely find Vault Structures online. McNamara says although it's not a top seller, inquiries have led to other purchases and opened up markets such as Australia.
Follow Jean Gruss on Twitter @JeanGruss
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