Shandon Harbour is the third generation of women in her family with her Irish first name. She’s also the third generation to run the family business, SDA Security, where she is vice president and general manager.

Her grandparents started the security systems integration company in 1930, then her father ran it for 40 years. Harbour, the oldest of four children, had no plans to join the business. She graduated from USC and became a teacher with a future goal of school administration. But with the onset of the high-tech age, her skills seemed more appropriate for the changing security business.

The speed and sophistication of new equipment, she says, called for a generational shift. Since she had been around the business all her life, moving into it full-time was a good fit, although historically security has been a male-dominated field.

She has relished SDA’s successes, including industry awards for a medium-sized family-owned business in 2005, a Central Station Alarm award for 2005-06 and a nomination this year as one of San Diego’s best places to work.

Many of Harbour’s community activities revolve around her husband, Dave, and their three sons: Devlin, 9, Shea, 7, and Trent, 3 They live in Clairemont.