The Baxter Bulletin

Some businesses benefiting from 9-11

August 29, 2002
By Greg Wright and Maureen Groppe

WASHINGTON -- Travelers facing early arrival requirements, long lines and multiple security checks made Laurie Sears' business a surprise success after Sept. 11.

Though her airport massage service suffered initially as airports across the country were forced to shut down, when people started flying again they jumped at the chance for a 15-minute shoulder, neck or foot rub before boarding their plane.

Since opening in July 2001, Sears has quadrupled her business at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, expanded to Dulles International Airport and is talking with John F. Kennedy Airport officials -- at their invitation -- about opening there.

"I think people are going to (continue) to associate the airport with stress," Sears said. "That will help us."

Her business is one of many that have grown as others have suffered in the recession that deepened after the terrorist attacks.

Here's a look at some sectors:

• Demand for security consultants and guards has risen as airports, government offices and private companies have rushed to protect themselves against possible attacks. Though industrywide figures aren't public, Jack Mattera, vice president of The Intelligence Group, which advises companies about security, said his business has been up about 25 percent since the attacks.

  "We have seen a lot more companies reaching out and saying, 'Come in and tell us how we measure up to the industry standard, and tell us what we need to do,"' Mattera said.
  
  

• The government is spending more than $3 billion to increase medical supplies and develop new drugs and vaccines to fight bioterrorism. Private companies stand to benefit, but money has not been distributed yet through the National Institutes of Health and the Defense Department.
  
  
• Biometric technology, which could be used to identify wanted terrorists by fingerprints or other unique physical characteristics, is expected to see an almost 40 percent annual growth through 2005.
  
  
• Cellular phone sales increased almost 12 percent in the months after Sept. 11, a rise analysts attribute to people wanting the instant ability to phone friends, family and work.

But free phones included in calling plans and holiday gift giving also prompted more people to buy.

"Cell phone usage went up 1,300 percent in the New York City metropolitan area in the four hours surrounding the attacks and up 400 percent during the same period in Washington," said Kim Kuo, spokeswoman for the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association.

That some people on the doomed airliners and those trapped in the World Trade Center were able to make farewell calls underscored the increased urge to buy wireless phones, which On, a Time Inc. consumer electronics magazine, named product of the year.

"I think the awareness is certainly of wireless phones as safety tools," Kuo said.

North Americans purchased 23.5 million cell phones in the three months after September, a 12 percent increase from the three months leading up to and including September, according to Gartner Dataquest in Stamford, Conn.

But terrorism anxieties alone were not the only reason people bought more cell phones in late 2001, said Peter Arato, an analyst at NPDTechworld in Port Washington, N.Y. Cell phone prices dropped 14 percent in the last three months of 2001, and some cell phone providers offered incentives for new customers.

In the long term, cell phone sales are expected to decline because half of Americans already own them, other analysts said.

Biometrics is a technology in its infancy and could see continued growth for years after Sept. 11.

Biometrics use computers and other devices to identify people based on a biological characteristic such as a fingerprint, an eye's iris or retina, or a facial profile.

The merger of science and technology is getting a boost mainly because Congress approved several laws, including the Aviation and Transportation Security Act passed in October, to shore up security at airports using biometric devices. The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Reform Act also requires all U.S. embassies and consulates to check the background of foreigners visiting the United States using fingerprint scans by 2004.

Sales of biometric devices are expected to total $729 million this year, up from $524 million in 2001 and $399 million in 2000, said Raj Nanavati, a partner at the International Biometric Group, a consulting company in New York City.