Jackson, Mississippi - Peter Fabian stands still as another man fires a gun at him. The only thing between them is a window coated with a substance known for making ugly clothes in the '70s.

The window cracks in a spiderweb pattern, and Fabian walks out laughing. The president and chief executive officer of Ottawa, Canada-based ACE/Security Laminates™ has demonstrated the strengths of his products in a video presentation.

"After seeing that, we said, 'Let's buy some tickets,' and we went up to Canada," Jackson businessman Nick Myers Jr. said on seeing Fabian's video.

A few months after that visit last year, Myers and Jeff Brantley, the baseball star who retired to Clinton last year after 14 years in the major leagues, became distributors for ACE products in six Southeastern states. The two will demonstrate their products today to a group of invited guests and security officials.

Brantley said he had been looking for business opportunities when he heard from Myers. "When you're playing baseball, it seems like everyone you know is bringing you a product to pitch," Brantley said. "But this one really stood out." ACE/Security Laminates™ produces thin, polyester films that can be attached to windows to strengthen them. The strongest films can stop some bullets, while others can stop debris such as tree limbs sent flying by hurricane-force winds.

It performs basically the same function as taping up windows to prepare for a hurricane. While flying debris might break the window, the pieces of the window will stick to the film, preventing them from falling and cutting people and keeping more debris from entering the building.

Myers said while the company will pitch the product's security benefits to clients in the Southeast, hurricane and tornado protection will be strong sales inducement.

In addition, the product can deter simple burglaries, Myers said. "The typical burglary only takes about 30 seconds," he said Criminals typically break a window, quickly grab what they can from a home and leave.

But if a burglar hits a security coated window, the glass will break, but it will not give him easy access to the building.The burglar would have to pick out the glass shards to make a hole big enough to fit through, a process that could take several minutes and increase the risk of getting caught.

Brantley said "Sept. 11 really raised everybody's awareness of the threats out there·but it doesn't take a terrorist to break a window and take something out of your house. We protect against both."

Brantley said coating a car's windows would cost between $750 and $800. The cost to coat windows in a building would depend on the size, the level of protection desired and the number of windows.

< < < Back to Articles