The Backup Training Corp., a growing Coeur dAlene provider of computer based-training programs for law-enforcement personnel, is taking steps to broaden its clientele.


The company is gearing up to deliver any imaginable training topic to private companies and other government agencies with custom CD-ROM packages, says its training director, Rick Gallia.


Right now, we have about 20 percent of CD-ROM (law-enforcement training) market share in the country, he claims. We hope to improve on that by focusing on commercial aspects. We have everything we need here, including two production studios.


Backup employs about 30 people and has about 8,000 square feet of floor space at its location at 421 Coeur dAlene Ave. The company plans to hire additional workers later this year if its sales continue to rise, Gallia says.


Its projecting revenues of about $1.3 million this year, which would be double last years revenues.


Were in a growth cycle, says Gallia. Weve doubled our sales for two consecutive years. Our production level is going up. By 2005 we hope to have sales in the $3 million range.


Backup has a catalog of more than 45 classes, all contained on CD-ROMs. The company says its CD-ROM programs are viewed by about 35,000 students annually.


The companys training programs, which include the CD-ROM-based classes and support services, typically are priced at between $10 and $25, although larger organizations usually will buy more than one copy of the disc. The four- to eight-hour classes are interactive and can be completed at a students own pace. Each class comes with an electronic exam, which is e-mailed to Backup when completed for grading. If a student passes the course, the company mails a certificate of completion. If a student fails, he or she can take the class again at no extra charge. Backup also provides the answers that the student missed.


Yvonne Ellis, Backups chief operating officer, and Gallia run the company. Ellis helped launched The Backup Training Corp., in 1997 with the help of a small group of California investors who own a majority interest in the company.


Gallia retired from law enforcement in the early 1990s after working about 10 years in Northern California. He says he served in a canine-supported patrol unit and also worked in narcotics. Ellis says she has experience in banking management and retail work in Coeur dAlene.


Branching out


The company recently started marketing several of its law-enforcement classes that focus on topics such as gangs and the dangers of popular club drugs like Ecstasy to schools and parents. It also recently created programs for private companies on a variety of law enforcement-related topics, such as violence in the workplace and drug recognition.


It also produces custom training classes for private companies and would like to do more.


It could be a real estate class, or a management training class, Gallia says. We can do just about anything.


Backup recently secured a large contract with a gas-mask manufacturer to provide online certification to police officers, firefighters, and other government personnel who need to use masks after being checked out for health concerns.


Under that contract, the company provides an online application, and a potential mask user simply goes to Backups Web site and fills out the form. Gallia says Backup has two doctors review each application. The company charges $17.50 to issue a certificate. If a person is rejected by the physicians, there is no charge.


It takes about 10 minutes to fill out the form online, Gallia says. It saves a lot of time compared with having a person visit a doctor.


A person can fail the certification for any number of medical reasons.


If they smoke or have asthma they can get rejected, he says. All it means is that they have to go to a doctor and have an examination to make sure theyre fine to have the mask.


Backup traditionally has marketed its services at law-enforcement conventions and by calling law-enforcement agencies. It recently added a small sales staff to begin searching for clients who work outside of squad cars.


Were looking at all kinds of things, including making a training program for the PGA (Professional Golf Association), Gallia says. We would produce something for the PGAs volunteers.


Core business


Law-enforcement training, though, is the companys gold standard. Backup claims its programs are accepted by law-enforcement agencies across the country for in-service training. Gallia says most law-enforcement agencies require officers to complete about 24 hours of training each year.


Backups Web site provides a list of the states that accept its classes. The Idaho Peace Officers Standards and Training Academy, or POST Academy as its called, is a state agency that trains law-enforcement officers in Idaho. It operates a police academy in Meridian as well as training efforts in other regions of the state. The agency started using the Backups training programs this year, says John Parmann, a POST Academy training coordinator in Coeur dAlene.


Weve had four or five classes go through the academy using Backup training, and the response has been positive, he says. I expect to add more of their programs in the future.


The POST Academy was able to add more than 50 hours of training to its basic law-enforcement curriculum with through Backup, says Parmann.


People who wish to be hired as law-enforcement officers by any jurisdiction in Idaho are required to attend the 10-week academy. Those students also are required to complete successfully Backups law-enforcement courses on report writing, domestic violence, sexual assault, and mental illness.


Its a significant amount of additional training, Parmann says. If they (students) have mastered it before they step foot in the academy, it helps because they can ask better questions and get more out of the practical training scenarios.


Well-suited for rookies


Using computer-based training is ideal for those with little or no law-enforcement experience, says Parmann.


Most of the people entering the academy havent had any law-enforcement experience, says Parmann. The Backup classes are easy to absorb because of the method of delivery.


The Idaho academy trains about 200 students a year, Parmann says. He believes the states recent acceptance of The Backups training products will be a boon to the Coeur dAlene company.


State certification is the thing that validates the training, he says.


Parmann says, Its very appealing to law enforcement because of the look and accuracy. They have a good presentation.


Providing additional training each year for law-enforcement officers can be expensive, time consuming, and difficult to schedule, says Parmann.


Delivering training has always been a challenge for us, he says. The expert has to come to the agency, or area, or we have to send an officer to the expert, which costs quite a bit of money. Doing the training on a CD that the officer can use during down times is a big advantage.


Backup realizes it wont be able to infiltrate some parts of the law-enforcement market.


For example, Washington is one of a number of states that dont use programs provided by private businesses to augment its training.


We have our own state institution that does our own training, says Joel Gavino, information and technology manager of the Washington state Criminal Justice Training Commission. We dont plan on using commercial businesses in the future.


Ellis, the companys COO, says, Some states like California dont allow companies outside the state to provide training, and others dont have standards to judge our curriculum. Weve gone just about everywhere we can go for now.


Possible degree program


The companys classes are recognized by North Idaho College, many schools in Canada, and the U.S. Air Force Academy, says Gallia.


NIC students can earn 17 elective credits by taking the six classes approved by the college, says Robert Ketchum, the colleges assistant vice president for instruction and executive director of the NIC Workforce Training Center.


The school approved the classes last fall, and 16 of its studentssome located elsewhere across the countryearned 183 credits in the 2003-04 school year. Ketchum expects that number to increase rapidly next year.


Through Backup, the college would like to offer all of the law-enforcement classes needed for a two-year degree, he says.


Thats the long-term project, Ketchum says. Its in the hands of The Backup in terms of the pace that they develop content.


Backup also is developing programs targeted for secondary-education settings. Gallia says many high schools in the U.S. offer, or plan to offer, law-enforcement classes.


The company says it uses about 90 experts in law enforcement from the around the country to help provide the content for its training programs. It pays those experts an undisclosed fee to conduct a class in Coeur dAlene, which is recorded and later produced into a training program. The experts also receive royalties for each CD-ROM program sold.


Local law-enforcement officers can attend those class/recording sessions free of charge, says Gallia.


Its helpful to have actual students there because they can ask questions, which we will use for class, he says. Usually, experts are here for two days. The first day is the class, and the second day we do follow-up work in our production studio.


Until recently, the company had seen slow growth.


The company spent heavily on front-end development, Ellis says. We worked on developing our product for the first couple of years.