As 2018 draws to a close, it’s time to look back at all that happened.

In general, 2018 was a big year for US news with stories like the death of Arizona Senator and two-time (2000 and 2008) presidential hopeful John McCain. Other top US news stories according to the Business Insider include the Parkland School Shooting, the Trump/Russia Probe, the #MeToo Movement, the Brett Kavanaugh Confirmation, and the California Wildfires, among others. 

We here at Norris know a thing or two about mitigating against things like school shootings and detecting and notifying first responders of fires. We also have our own top news stories of the year. 

Mostly our news stories focus on helping out and lending a hand to those in need. We enjoy giving back and enrich our communities. 

The following 5 news stories from Norris highlight Team Norris’ penchant for giving back, helping out and enriching our communities:

Norris Top 5 News Stories of 2018

  1. Security Industry leader Norris solves corrections headache for Maine jail: Top brass at Knox County Jail, located in Rockland, Maine, recently contracted with security industry leader Norris, Inc. Norris cured what has become an all-too familiar corrections headache for jail administrators—aged and failing proprietary systems that are expensive, if not impossible, to service. “The existing door control system simply wasn’t working anymore,” said KCJ Facility Administrator Major John Hinkley. The failure wasn’t just inconvenient for staff, he noted. “It had become a real safety and security issue.” Norris responded to a request for proposals from the facility and entered a competitive bidding scenario. Three other security providers submitted bids. One competitor eventually dropped out, leaving just three contestants. Norris was eventually selected for a variety of reasons.
  2. Area Disc Golfers Aim to Ace it for Children’s Miracle Network Fundraiser: Disc golfers from all over New England will converge on the baskets at Bittersweet Ridge, located in North Yarmouth, Maine, to compete and raise money for the Children’s’ Miracle Network and Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital during the 6th Annual Children’s Miracle Network Disc Golf Tournament Fundraiser. The event will take place Jul 22, 2018. Norris Inc. is a Champion-Level Sponsor for the fundraiser event that has raised close to $50,000 for the CMN and BBCH during its 5 years at Bittersweet Ridge. Asked why these sorts of fund-raising endeavors were so important, Barbara Bush Children’s Hospital Philanthropy Manager Kate Richardson explained it was all about helping the children. “We use any money from an event like this to fund additional programs for the kids,” Richardson said. “We use it to provide more advanced equipment and the most state of the art care. It also allows us to provide things like a hospital-based teacher, a music therapy program and therapy dog program.”
  3. Shaker Village vandalism repair brings out community spirit —Norris Chairman volunteers for work detail The town of New Gloucester Maine is home to the last living, working Shaker community, the Sabbath day Lake Shaker Village. The Shakers are a fascinating communal culture that believes in hard work and dedication to community. They believe in helping one another out. In October of 2018, the Portland Press Herald reported the Village suffered some vandalism when its hayfield was discovered to have been torn up by uncaught perpetrators slamming the gas and spinning donuts in the field, cutting deep ruts and displacing large chunks of living sod. Michael Graham is the Director of The Shaker Museum. By his own admission, he also wears many hats around the Shaker Village and it was he who found the vandalized field. “When I discovered the vandalism, my stomach sank. I cut the Shakers’ hay crop twice each season, and I knew what the damage meant in terms of the immediate work that needed to be done,” Graham said.
  4. Norris Chief Operations Officer Honored With Patriot Award: Norris Chief Operations Officer Craig Elkanich got a surprise recently. Unbeknownst to him, he had been nominated for a prestigious Patriot Award from the Department of Defense’s Employer Support of Guard and Reserve program. The ESGR program grants these awards to employers/managers who make life easier on National Guardsmen, Reserve members and their families. Elkanich was nominated for the award by his employee, Joe Pomerleau, Lead Technician for the New Hampshire Office. In his nomination essay, Pomerleau lauded Elkanich’s willingness to do whatever it took to make sure Pomerleau and his family were taken care of. “I am nominating Craig Elkanich for all the support that he has given to me and my family during my extended time on active duty. From the time I deployed, and the time I’ve spent on my temp title 10 tour, he has gone above and beyond supporting me from the start,” Pomerleau wrote. 
  5. Norris helps protect rescued horses at MSSPA: Norris has been working very closely with the Maine State Society or the Protection of Animals for the last couple years. They have been working hard, meeting with the client on a regular basis to understand their special and evolving needs. Norris has designed and installed communications, life-safety, and video-based security systems for the Society’s newly renovated facility in Windham, Maine (it’s having it’s grand opening the weekend of October 26-28). The full scope of Norris’ projects involved installing new communications and network capabilities to cater to the campus’ layout and special needs. Because there were so many buildings that needed video coverage, it made sense to set up radio communications. Norris also installed, monitors, tests and inspects and services and maintains the new facility’s fire alarm system. Norris’ Systems Integrator, Jim Allmon handled the design and implementation of the fire alarm system. Meris J. Bickford, Esq. Is MSSPA’s CEO. “Prior to receiving assistance and services from Norris, we had worked with another security company that was not able to address the sometimes challenging logistics of the farm site on which we work. We really needed to upgrade our overall approach to monitoring the horses while staying on budget and focusing on our work, not on becoming tech wizards ourselves,” Bickford said. “During our interactions with Norris, we have worked with numerous, talented and dedicated folks. Norris helped us keep the horses safe.”

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What is Norris all about?

Norris, Inc.—a South Portland, Maine-based life-safety and security systems integrator with satellite offices in Bangor, Maine; Lee, New Hampshire; and Burlington, Vermont—was founded nearly 40 years ago by two brothers, Brad and Harty Norris. The brothers remain on the board of directors today and continue to help steer the enterprise toward its goal of advancing life-safety, security, and communications while striving to grow in its status as Northern New England’s leading systems integrator. Norris provides fully integrated life-safety and security solutions, comprising disparate systems including fire alarm, intrusion detection, access control, video surveillance, communications, and emergency notification and total systems integration via the Vigilance Systems Integration Engine and ENS.