Provo » President Barack Obama failed to deliver on his promise to fix the economy, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declared at the ribbon-cutting for APX Alarm Security Solutions new corporate headquarters.
"It has been a bad miscalculation," Romney said of the $819 billion Obama stimulus package. He said entrepreneurs, not bureaucrats, are going to pull the country out of the recession.
"The best thing the country can do is unleash the power of entrepreneurs and get of the way," Romney said. He acknowledged government does have a role: ensuring people get the best education possible and lowering taxes he sees as hurdles to economic progress.
He said APX is an example of that, noting that CEO Todd Pedersen's initial rejection for a door-to-door sales job in the early 1990s has led to a company employing almost 9,000. Alex Dunn, COO of APX, is Romney's former chief of staff when he was Massachusetts governor.
Romney said Obama would do better to listen to people like Pedersen, rather than the experts he has called to his economic summit.
Stuart Dean, company spokesman, said APX has seen a 30 percent growth in its business since 2008, and added 200 full-time positions.
Pedersen said it was a bit embarrassing to have Romney single him out for what he sees as a team effort.
"I always say it is not me, but APX as a whole," Pedersen said. "If any good company makes good decisions, it will succeed."
Opening the Riverbottoms headquarters -- a 105,000-square-foot office building and a 20,000-square-foot conference center -- shows that the company is up and coming, and plans to be around for a while, Pedersen said.
The company has had some run-ins with regulators. In 2008, the state Division of Consumer Protection investigated complaints that APX's army of door-to-door salespeople engaged in aggressive and deceptive sales tactics.
In May 2009, the division cited the company for a deceptive act after an APX employee told a Florida man he could cancel his security contract at any time. When the man tried, the company told him he had to pay the full cost of the contract or sell it to someone else.
In July, the division dismissed the complaint without prejudice after the company and its customer worked out a settlement.
The state also cited the company in 2007 for exceeding to scope of its employee licensing in remodeling and electrical work.
APX also was issued a cease-and-desist order in Louisiana in 2008 because unlicensed employees were selling and installing systems.
Pedersen said his company trains its sales force, but some don't follow the rules, and those employees will be fired.
Pedersen also said that some people consider a knock on their front door an aggressive sales pitch.
At the grand opening, Romney couldn't escape questions about his political future. He wouldn't comment on a possible 2012 presidential bid, but said he is working to get Republicans elected next year, including Sen. Bob Bennett and Gov. Gary Herbert.
