Gyrocam Systems has announced a military contract worth $302 million over a maximum of five years to supply up to 500 of the cameras, which are mounted on telescoping masts on armored vehicles in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"At the rate they've been going, probably two, or three and half years, they will purchase what they need for this contract," said company founder Ken Sanborn said. "Obviously, there's a war going on and their effort is to get it there as quickly as possible."
The cameras offer a stabilized image to troops inside the vehicles, enabling them to search for improvised explosive devices while maintaining safe distances.
Gyrocam was awarded its first Department of Defense contract in May 2006 for 67 of the cameras. Shortly afterward, the military ordered 140 more.
Later that year, the innovative device also garnered a visit from President Bush to the Gyrocam facility at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport.
Since then, the company has added a new 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at the Sarasota-Bradenton Commerce Center near the airport.
Gyrocam currently has 300 of the cameras in use in Iraq and Afghanistan, Sanborn said.
Sanborn founded Gyrocam in 2003. The company evolved from Aerial Films, a business Sanborn, a former ABC cameraman, started in 1987. The business filmed commercials and special events with cameras mounted to helicopters.
He later adapted the technology for use on law enforcement and news helicopters.
Sanborn calls Gyrocam's success a "David and Goliath story."
"Our competitors are these huge conglomerates and big companies - publicly traded companies," Sanborn said. "I think people are jaded. They think you have to be a Lockheed Martin to get these big contracts."
Sanborn said the company is continuing to develop the technology for use in homeland security applications such as protecting ports and airports.
It wasn't always easy going for Sanborn.
Sanborn was convinced the technology would be well received by the military, but he was already heavily leveraged and needed $15 million to $20 million to get a jump on inventory in the event a contract came through.
In 2005, he brought in an outside investor and made the gamble, which eventually paid off.
Within the past two years, the company has gone from 24 employees to 114. The majority work locally, but Gyrocam also has employees near Washington, D.C., and in Iraq, where they are installing and maintaining the devices, Sanborn said.
Nancy Engel, executive director of the Manatee Economic Development Council, said the agency has enjoyed working with Sanborn and seeing his business succeed.
"We've worked with Ken when he first located here," Engel said. "We helped him with the location. We've helped him with looking at expansion sites. He's had some tough times, and it's great to see some things turn around for him. It's a sign that persistence pays off."
