October 2005, marked the 50th anniversary of Electronic Centre Limited, located at 50 Pippy Place in St. John’s. At first glance, one would think that this is a typical story about the survival of another local enterprise. Not so. This is a story about the evolution of wireless technology, creative thinking, “Big Brother” and a need to make the world a safer place.

Owners Wallace J. Williams and Wayne C. Squires have positioned the Electronic Centre, for the most part, to respond to security demands in industry through the rapidly changing world of wireless technology. For Squires, the demand for their expertise is summed up in two words, “Homeland Security.” A passion for protecting clients through technological innovation has gained the Electronic Centre a solid reputation. Squires continues, “No two days are the same, no two applications are alike…and taking on new challenges is never boring.”

The Electronic Centre has evolved from a retail-focused electronic parts/communications sales and service operation in 1955, to a serious player in wireless technology. About 97 per cent of all the Electronic Centre’s security applications are geared toward the protection of large industrial interests at home and abroad. Only 3 per cent accounts for retail business, which is a shift from 100 per cent in 1955. The Electronic Centre will enjoy its most successful fiscal year to date during this, the golden anniversary of the company’s inception.

The challenge to create custom designed security systems from concept to implementation is the catalyst for the Electronic Centre’s success. Most systems simply do not exist. Squires says, “We have to create a solution for our customers by any means possible. We could be working with Photo ID terminals, security cameras…satellite emergency phone systems, whatever it takes.” Post 9/11 sees the Electronic Centre’s surveillance technologies being used to monitor activities onboard commercial aircraft, at major ports, and at industrial mega-projects. Systems are designed to allow clients the ability to observe their operations from a PC anywhere in the world in real-time.

The Electronic Centre consists of 10 specialized technological professionals, each with their own area of expertise, allowing them to meet any technological challenge in-house. This tight group has the chemistry to make ideas happen and a collective desire to find creative ways to solve problems. Once a system has been designed, delivered and installed, the staff at the Electronic Centre often provide an educational role in the field for clients and colleagues.

Over the decades, the Electronic Centre has fostered relationships with many contented and inspired clients from Iceland and Greenland to the Bahamas and Southeast Asia. “We get calls from all over the world inquiring about our technological capabilities” says Squires, “my first question is ‘how did you find me?’” Word tends to get around fast by usual means, but it seems to move at the speed of light in the world at the Electronic Centre. If technological innovation has driven the Electronic Centre to achieve such remarkable feats in 50 years, one can only imagine what milestones will have been reached by year 75. After all, what the mind can conceive, the creative use of technology can achieve.

So, the next time you are shopping at your favourite retailer, reading a newspaper in a café, or standing at a busy intersection in a major Canadian city, remember that “Big Brother” may be watching. For further information contact info@electroniccentre.com.

Electronic Centre Limited

50 Pippy Place,

St. John's, Newfoundland A1B 4H7

Telephone - (709) 579-5021 Fax - (709) 579-8014