About

Southern Cross Storm Protection

Have you ever had that conversation with someone about “how we used to do it”? That is the same conversation that gave life to Southern Cross Storm Protection.

At the beginning of the 1980s, two team members - Brant and Matt Smith - moved to southwest Florida as young children from the East Coast where their dad, Don Smith, had been doing hurricane shutters for several years. He decided to start a new hurricane shutter company with a friend of his in southwest Florida.

The decision turned out to be the right one. Through the '80s and '90s, the Smiths ended up doing tens of millions of dollars a year and had over 200 people employed with them before that company was sold at the end of the 1990s.

Being in the industry since he was child and always enjoying it, Brant saw a real need for someone who would still manufacture high-quality hurricane shutters for the companies that installed them without giving up quality to gain profit.

Because of this, he started Southern Cross Shutter Systems and gained a very large dealer network that he still loves working with today.

As a small group of us who had been together in the industry for decades would talk about how quality and craftsmanship had become a thing of the past - how the industry was only focused on low-cost materials, speedy installations, low labor costs, and pushing homeowners into products that weren’t the best choice for them because they had the highest margin of profit - it always came up, “Do you remember how we used to do it?”

We decided to find out if that was what the residents of our beautiful communities truly wanted or if it was all that was being offered. With a small group of seven guys that were all passionate about the custom installations we all missed doing, we started letting longtime area builders and residents know that we were doing the custom-type work they had remembered from years past. It wasn’t long before we realized that not only did the community appreciate the work, but they also liked being educated about all of the options available and different ways to meet the needs each person had by a skilled professional who actually cared.

We heard story after story of salespeople pushing products they didn’t care for on them because they were most profitable for that company, or how they were pushed to act today or they wouldn’t get certain discounts or upgrades. Each time we got a greater sense of how giving them the answers they needed to make the best choice for them resulted in a renewed sense of pride in what we do as part of our community with our given gifts and talents and why we all chose this profession so many years ago.

Shutter and Screen Sales and Installation

Thank you for trusting us with your homes and allowing us to showcase our talents and skills. We would love the opportunity to help you make the best decision for the needs of your home or business and show you why you should choose us.

• Locally owned and insured
  
• 40+ years of experience
  
• Residential, commercial, and industrial services
  
• Wide variety of materials to choose from

For a refreshingly different and very informative consultation, please call now at (941) 235-2620 and “let our experience change your experience!”