Safeguard Equipment Inc. is expanding to Europe with two strategic partnerships that will boost the Post Falls manufacturer's global footprint and help the company meet a growing international demand for personal safety technology, says Matt Gerber, senior vice president of international business development at Safeguard.

Gerber says the company's global expansion plan will bring its flagship product, the Compass Pro Emergency Response System, to three European regions by year-end.

The Compass Pro ERS is a device that provides prevention and emergency-response functions with a proprietary app to help keep users safe from electrocution and other serious injuries.

Safeguard is taking a traditional approach to global expansion by first introducing the Compass Pro ERS to a handful of countries that have business cultures similar to the U.S., Gerber says.

Safeguard's global expansion will move ahead in two phases. The first phase includes the United Kingdom, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Germany. 

"We'd like to have the first phase completed by Q1 of this year," Gerber says. "We're probably 80% to 90% of the way there on phase one." 

The company already secured two distribution partnerships this month with Horizon Utility Supplies, based in the U.K., and Eurolaite Oy, in Finland. Gerber notes that the companies aren't typical distributors in that they go beyond product delivery to include installation, warranty support, and the replacement of spare parts for their customers.

Safeguard also is negotiating partnerships with two German companies, which are expected to close in the first half of the year.

"We're very close to declaring 100% victory on the first phase of (expansion)," he says. "In December we said, 'Let's step on the gas a little bit for going after the next round.'"

Next, Safeguard will turn its efforts to southern Europe, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France.

"I think we'll get Spain and France signed up in Q1, then Italy will probably get signed on in Q2 or Q3," says Gerber.

The Compass Pro ERS device helps improve the safety of field workers in high-risk environments through features such as electrical hazard detection, fall alerts, SOS capabilities, and live monitoring.

By the third quarter of this year, Safeguard anticipates pivoting to partner productivity by helping new partners with training and product demonstrations, he says. 

Safeguard's primary customers in North America are utility companies that operate electrical distribution systems, such as Avista Corp., but the European market is opening up additional opportunities to serve workers who are exposed to energized conductors in other industries, such as in mining, telecommunications, gas, and construction sectors.

Partnerships are being sought with companies that prioritize safety, have an established network for resale, and already work with U.S. companies, as they are usually multilingual, says Gerber. 

Another part of the expansion plan involves localizing Safeguard's software and hardware to meet European standards, including language translation for Safeguard's mobile application.

"It's a lot easier to do these days than it used to be, because you can architect your software, which we did knowing we're going to go international with it," Gerber says. 

Gerber declines to disclose Safeguard's annual revenue, but he says strong demand last year helped propel Safeguard to experience significant growth of about 50% compared to 2023. 

The company shipped about 100,000 products in 2024, he says, adding that the number of active users of the product has increased to 90,000, up from about 70,000 active users in 2023.

The manufacturer's suggested retail price for the Compass Pro ERS is $359, an increase of about 20% from the cost of the unit previously reported by the Journal in 2023, due in part to inflation and the rising costs to install, train, and provide other support, explains Gerber.

Safeguard is entering the European market after fielding numerous business inquiries last year from European companies interested in the safety device, which offers a combination of both prevention and response features.

"There are voltage and current detectors that will prevent you from contacting an energized conductor, but they don't do all of the things that our system does," says Gerber. "It's always nice to be able to take a position that you can't buy this anywhere else."

The palm-sized Compass Pro device clips onto workers' hard hats and operates with software through a mobile application, and an emergency response system, that works similar to an emergency dispatch system or a field workforce management center.

In addition to the Compass Pro, Safeguard also sells the Compass G2, which Gerber describes as a second-generation device that only offers prevention features and not the emergency response functions of the Compass Pro.

Safeguard was established nine years ago and has 30 employees. The company's headquarters and manufacturing facility are located at the Tedder Business Center, at 4202 W. Riverbend in Post Falls. 

Gerber notes that Safeguard doesn't have any short-term plans to build new facilities to support the market overseas.

"It's very early for us in the market, but there's a lot of headroom for growth," says Gerber.