Triple Threat: Chimera Integrations' Path to Integrator of the Year
October 3, 2024 | By Karyn Hodgson, SDM Editor-in-Chief
The 2024 SDM Systems Integrator of the Year excels at its three top priorities: employee & community connection; a customer approach with cutting-edge technology; and financial success that feeds directly back into the company and the communities it serves.
For a relatively young company, this year’s SDM Systems Integrator of the Year has a lot of collective experience in the security industry — and a string of successes to show for it. What’s more surprising is the seemingly ad hoc way in which they have gone about it — from starting a business in a former tattoo parlor and running it from the road thousands of miles away, to routinely recommending what many integrators would consider “bleeding edge” technologies to their customers. But there is a method to their madness and a decidedly unconventional approach that is clearly working for them.
Company President Casey White will be the first to admit he is not a planner. And, indeed, the founding of Chimera Integrations in 2017 grew out of an unfortunate business relationship. When the situation at his former company became untenable and attempts to buy the company went south, White knew it was time to act.
“Overnight I was ready and I knew I had to start Chimera,” he explains. Determined to do it differently, White founded the company with the intent to create an experience for security technicians to have a better place to work — a service-based business that would not be risk-averse but focus on the right solutions for the client.
Despite this seemingly snap decision, White was hardly new to the security industry. The third generation in his family to work in the security field, White was pulling wires during the summer by age 12. He got a degree in business administration, and had already worked for a couple of security companies before forming Chimera, initially both living and operating the company out of a former tattoo parlor in a building owned by his dad, Kip White, who is now Chimera’s general manager.
Speaking of tattoos, Casey has one of a Phoenix evolving out of a dragon, which was the inspiration for the company name, White says. “Chimera was a word that was foreign to me before someone pointed out I happen to have a tattoo of a Chimera on my body.” When he looked further into the meaning of Chimera — a mythological creature made up of the DNA of multiple animals — he knew he had found a formula not only for the name, but for the company mission. He adapted the concept, creating a three-headed logo: a lion to represent security; a phoenix to represent rising from the ashes; and a dragon to represent future growth and prosperity.
When the pandemic hit, Casey White decided to take the show on the road, literally. With the need to meet with customers in person on hold, he and his girlfriend took an RV, drove west and began touring around, running the business from there.
By 2021, the business had grown to the point that White recognized the need to expand, both physically and in leadership. He hired Justin Stearns to be the company vice president and partner. Like White, Stearns had also grown up in the security business, starting when he was 10. After briefly trying to go to college to be a classical pianist, he decided the college experience wasn’t for him, and set about going into business for himself, eventually owning his own locksmith business, selling it in 2019 and starting another security business.
“I had just started another business; I wasn’t looking,” he says of meeting White. But a mutual friend told Stearns that he really should speak with White. “He said, ‘I have never heard anyone talk about this business like you and Casey.’”
Casey White is not the only family member involved in the company: (from left) Casey White, president; his brother Jeffrey White, technical sales and augmentation; and his father Kip White, general manager. Image by Hal Silverman for SDM
After an initial four-hour phone conversation, White and Stearns decided to merge their collective experiences and partner up, and in the process bought back Stearns’ former locksmith company.
“When you look at the leadership in our organization, many of us have a similar story,” Stearns explains. “All of our Northern (New York) offices were born out of a similar story of just not being able to accomplish what they needed to and needing a fresh start and Casey opened up the door with an open mind, not being risk averse and believing in people. And it was that belief, I think, that really skyrocketed us to where we are today.”
Which ties back to the company name, Stearns says. “A chimera, in mythology, is a creature composed of parts from different animals, symbolizing the strength and synergy that comes from diverse elements working together as one. The name Chimera was chosen to reflect our belief that true greatness in security can only be achieved through the integration of various expertise and technologies, working seamlessly as a unified entity.”
This is also reflected in the Chimera’s three core values as well: employee success, customer success and financial success.
The company is solidly on track with all three. Since 2021, the company has grown from one office to five; 13 employees to 52; purchased and opened a new headquarters and separate warehouse; acquired a cybersecurity company and offered it as a white label service to both manufacturers and fellow integrators; and is on route to grow its revenue by 900 percent since 2021 — all organically. This record, in addition to the company’s innovative approach to community engagement, hiring and technology are why Chimera Integrations has been named the 2024 SDM Systems Integrator of the Year.
Community & ‘Eulogy’ Values Drive Company Culture
The Chimera concept of “heads of many, body of one” carries through to its company culture, hiring and training practices as well. Chimera prides itself on its diversity of experience when it comes to its workforce.
“It’s huge for me when I interview people that I’m not just bringing in another tool for the toolbox or another cog in the machine,” White says. “I’m bringing in a bunch of intelligent people with different experiences that will not only add skills from their past, but also other things that are going to make this not only a highly skilled place to work, but a highly enjoyable place to work.”
In order to get that diversity, White and Stearns say they like to hire on “eulogy values” not “resume values.” In fact, White boasts that he throws resumes away, relying instead on other means of evaluating candidates. One of these metrics is a candidate’s passion about their community and what they do in their free time. As Stearns notes, “We work to live here, not live to work.”
It all starts with that initial hire, White explains. “You are trying to get the person on the other side of the table to understand that this is more than just a paycheck. It’s more than just a transaction. Typically when you find somebody that loves giving back to the community at their own expense of time, that’s a great start to finding somebody that’s going to mold well into our family.
“It’s very important for us to know that you are a good person more so than you are good at what you used to do at your old company,” White adds. “What is it that you like to do outside of work? I don’t think the right answer is ‘All I ever do is work.’ To me that's actually a red flag, despite the intention to appear hardworking. Because if you don’t have a life outside of work, what is it that you’re doing all the time? I think having the ability to have a good life and a happy life — whether that’s playing video games or whatever it is — and having a passion for something other than work says that you’re capable of having a passion at work.”
