Dear Friend and Partner,

As we progress into 2004, Keith Parker & Associates, Inc. would like to wish you a prosperous new year!

While 2003 was economically a rough year, a number of indicators have pointed to a stronger U.S. economy for 2004. Unfortunately, there is less positive news for the Chicagoland area. Crain's Chicago Business reported Chicago and the state are expected to lag behind the rest of the nation in growth as the region had a heavy reliance on telecom equipment manufacturing that collapsed.

On the government security side of things, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced $7.8 million in grants for airport terminal security enhancements with future additional grants for a total of $17 million. The Homeland Department of Security also announced $179 million in grants to secure American ports. Water Treatment centers are also benefiting from granted funds and have been diligently expanding their security over the years since 9/11.

Advancements in digital products continue to push down the sales of analog based products increasing the need for all of us in this industry to become more and more network savvy. A lot of end-users now have their IT people jointly involved with the security department in the product decision process. In higher-end applications, the IT person has top authority.

A lot of exciting new products have been released from our principles. Please visit our website to see pictures and descriptions of the latest products available.

Do you have a CAD guy needing product symbols for Pelco or IFS equipment? Give our office a call and we'll send you a CD with the product drawings available in different CAD formats. It will make your CAD guy's life a lot easier.

Do you need to show your client what a Spectra III dome can see at certain distances or under certain lighting conditions? Give us a call and we'll send you a presentation CD that allows you to demo the dome right on your computer.

Did you miss the Pelco Mobile Product Showcase last year? Two more trucks are on order assuring our area to see a lot more of this marketing monster.

We'd also like to call your attention to this past Christmas season when Pelco donated another record number of nearly 111,000 toys, again making Pelco the single largest donator in the history of the Marine Corps' Toys-for-Tots program.

The International Security Conference (ISC-West) will be held this year at the Sand's Convention Center in Las Vegas between March 31st and April 2nd. As always, Pelco will be hosting a first-class party with entertainment. See the flyer from Pelco Travel regarding special room rates at the Venetian Hotel. Making this reservation guarantees you a hard-to-find ticket to Pelco's party. This year Pelco will be hosting The Beach Boys. ISC-West is a show most manufacturers use to launch new products. Pelco and our other principles will certainly have exciting new products to show you!

Most sincerely,

Kyle Parker