Pelco

Pelco Corporation, commonly referred to as Pelco, is an American-based security and surveillance technologies company, founded in 1957 and headquartered in Clovis, California. Pelco was purchased by current parent company, Schneider Electric, in 2007 and was incorporated into Schneider Electric's Building Automation business unit. Pelco products are globally distributed and frequently found in airports, malls, office buildings, factories, and on college campuses.

Pelco Sales was founded in 1957 in by E.L. Heinrich in Hawthorne, California. Heinrich created Pelco Sales as a side project to his already successful mechanical aviation business. Pelco Sales first product line consisted of pan-tilt devices and joysticks designed to remotely control the position of television cameras. The demand for Pelco Sales' products grew rapidly resulting in Heinrich's decision to abandon aviation and focus on camera technologies. The company was moved to Gardena, California and then again to Fresno, California to provide adequate work space for product production. In June 1987 Rod Heinrich sold Pelco Sales to local investor David McDonald shortly after approving plans for an 80,000 square foot facility in Clovis, California. McDonald truncated the name to Pelco, commonly referred to as the beginning of the "new" Pelco. The company continued to expand reaching distribution in more than 130 countries. In 2007 French power company, Schneider Electric purchased Pelco for US$1.22 billion in an effort to enhance their building automation business. Pelco's security and surveillance systems most notably protect Buckingham Palace, The Statue of Liberty, and China's Presidential Palace.