Company profileSystems integrator Adesta is making a bigger impression

During the first two decades of the last century, Omaha, Nebraska, was known as a “wide-open” city: Anything went, especially under the administration of Mayor “Cowboy Jim” Dahlman and political boss Tom Dennison. Today’s Omaha, the “Gateway City of the West,” has a distinctly more sedate air. It is headquarters for such companies as Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, Union pacific, and Conagra, and five years ago Newsweek listed it as a Top 10 high-tech haven. Omaha is also home to a company we like and which we have been following for a while: Adesta, a versatile and innovative systems integrator specializing in the construction and maintenance of stand-alone or integrated communication networks and electronic security systems. In this age of glitz and relentless self-promotion, Adesta has a distinct Midwest-Great Plains air about it: Low-key, unassuming, reliable, practical. Here are a few examples of projects from 2007 undertaken by the company (the company’s Web site offers a detailed list of project for 2007 and previous years):

* The City of Long Beach, California, has awarded a multi-million dollar, three-phase contract to Adesta to enhance security for the Port of Long Beach. Phase 1 concentrates on optimizing the existing system and recommending, implementing, and commissioning an integrated system. Phase 2 encompasses development and implementation of a program for the integration of a scalable System Management Software Component which has the capability to manage a combination of control, data, communication, and detection devices/systems. Phase 3 involves the development of a program for the implementation of a five-year integration plan which is linked to a multi-agency/regional communications and data network. Adesta is working directly with Port Staff to develop and implement long-term maritime domain awareness solutions. This is not a small potato. Long Beach is the second busiest seaport in the United States and a major gateway for trade with Asia. The port has seen a dramatic growth in trade in recent years. Cargo has nearly quadrupled during the past fifteen years, and the volume of trade is expected to triple over the next fifteen years. Securing the Port of Long Beach is thus a major undertaking. “As one of the largest port facilities in the nation, we must choose our partners carefully to ensure optimal security,” said Cosmo Peronne, director of security for the Port of Long Beach. “Adesta has made it possible for the Port to meet all of our unique security