SEQUIM — The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe has purchased a portion of Intellicheck Mobilisa of Port Townsend.
The tribe acquired Mobilisa Wireless of Port Townsend, the wireless component of Intellicheck Mobilisa. It announced the closure of the sale in a news release Wednesday.
The Port Townsend company will now be known as Intellicheck and concentrate on fraud protection and law enforcement services, said company CEO William Roof.
The new stand-alone company, called Mobilisa Enterprise Wireless, is now a Jamestown Networks (JNet) affiliate managed by the tribe’s Economic Development Authority.
“This partnership won’t necessarily improve our service which is already very good,” said Douglas Sellon, Jamestown Economic Development Authority executive director.
“But it will allow us to offer a broader range of services to our clients.”
Sellon declined to disclose the purchase price.
The new company has already absorbed the four remaining Mobilisa employees who are now operating out of the Sequim office at 257 Business Park Loop.
Roof said in a news release that the sale allows Intellicheck to concentrate on its area of greatest growth.
“Intellicheck is realizing the opportunity to be world-class in this rapidly emerging market, which combines identity authentication with vertical domain expertise,” Roof said.
“We are focused on opportunities that will allow us to make steady gains in performance and increase value for our shareholders.”
The purchase will allow the tribe to diversify its broadband business, complement its Internet Service Provider business and offer a more complete package of broadband and wireless services to clients, Sellon said.
The company provides service to 150 to 250 government agencies throughout the state in areas where wireless service is not readily available, he said.
The addition of Mobilisa Enterprise Wireless brings wireless telecommunications design, installation and monitoring solutions to the tribe’s business portfolio, he said, adding that it will subsidize health care, housing, education and other social services to the tribal community.
Mobilisa’s recent projects include the Jefferson County Public Utility District wireless data system project, the design and installation of the British Columbia Ferries wireless system, and the design and installation of the Makah wireless high-speed broadband delivery system.
Its first public foray was in 2008, when the company engineered the wireless service for Washington State Ferries, which it supplied for free for about a year before selling the technology to vendors who imposed subscription fees.
Intellicheck Mobilisa Inc. resulted from a merger of Intelli-Check Inc. of Woodbury, N.Y., and Mobilisa Inc. of Port Townsend.
The company subsequently concentrated on security and identification technologies, such as buoys that monitor boat traffic and cellphone apps that make it easy to verify IDs or speed up credit card approvals.
One of its products is called Fugitive Finder, a cellphone app that connects to a smartphone and doesn’t require law enforcement officers to use a terminal or laptop to confirm a potential criminal’s identity.
JNet and Intellicheck/Mobilisa have worked together over the past two years to provide high-speed broadband to rural areas, including the Makah reservation.
Mobilisa Enterprise Wireless can be reached at 360-683-2025.
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
