By Robert Stone
Editor’s note: this is the first in a series of features on Kansas-grown companies and the ways they impact their community.
Intentionally founded in a rural community, INA Alert, helmed by the Strecker family is on a mission to prove that small towns can be just as tech savvy as big cities.
Founded in Ellinwood in 2010, INA Alert is a technology provider focusing mostly on entry and exit, surveillance, security, and call systems. Since then, they’ve expanded to serve all of Kansas and much of the surrounding four states.
By choosing to focus on the values instilled by the town that made them, their motto “Think local deliver global” isn’t just talk. INA is changing the game in terms of customer service excellence.
Their secret? Bringing the warmth and friendliness of small-town Ellinwood to every location they serve.
Nick Strecker, one of the cofounders of INA, shared an example of how impactful that small town customer service can be: “We did a jail installation … and the guards and staff at the jail said they liked it more when we were there.”
Nick says they maintain their small-town environment by hiring locally
“75% of the company is from the community … They have pride (in that) … and they want to continue to make the community prosperous.”
He also said providing jobs is one of the major ways that INA helps the community.
“All of the jobs that have left the community we have put back into the community with technology jobs … In recent years we have lost two convenience stores, our autobody shop, and a Dairy Queen,” Nick said.
INA finds fun ways to give back to the community as well. In 2020, Nick and his children teamed up with other local businesses to host an Independence Day scavenger hunt. Posting a video on the INA Facebook page, they encouraged the Ellinwood community to find the hidden fireworks and report back.
Being a family business. Nick said the culture of the company is important on a personal level too.
“When you have a family run operation, if you’re not happy at work then you won’t be happy at home.”
November will mark the 14th year of operation for INA Alert. He said the goal for the next 14 years is more growth.
“We’ve been a high growth company, we have doubled our size every two years for the past seven years in a row, and we plan to continue with that growth.”
He also made clear their “small town service” isn’t going anywhere. To maintain the culture that has driven their high growth, Nick is part of the 2024 Leadership Kansas class. As part of Leadership Kansas, Nick is working to deepen INA’s connection with the entire state. The organization was started by the Kansas Chamber in 1979 to connect and mentor leaders from across the state.
Through their close-knit environment, and community centered values. INA Alert is striving to show just how much good a tech company can do, even without big city infrastructure to support it.
