Tom Vietri, former sales/marketing director for Respond, Inc., an armored carrier that was sold to Loomis Fargo in January, wants to save folks in the armored car business some of the hours he spent researching security systems, training programs, vaults and other topics.

"I had no idea what the learning curve was," said Corky Gowans, Vietri's former boss and the owner of Respond, Inc. "I'd ask him to find something out for me, and I'd have no idea how long it took him to get the information."

Inspired by the relative lack of market information in the armored industry and looking for a new venture after Respond, Inc.'s sale, the two men in late May launched Armored Universe, a Web site serving armored car companies, as well as their vendors and the users of armored car services.

The armored industry is fairly small -- with about 200 carriers sharing $2 billion of annual business in North America, according to Vietri's estimate. Yet because of the lack of publications serving the armored world and its related audiences, the two men believe the opportunity could be a large one.

"We think we can fill a void by serving as a resource for information," said Vietri, who produces most of the content himself. He hopes to get more contributed content as the site grows.

The site's revenue model is based on advertising, with clients paying for banner ads and listings in areas such as a classifieds section, RFP (request for project) center and industry directory.

A free semi-monthly e-mail "newsletter," featuring the latest items posted to the site, is delivered to those who register as members, Vietri said.

New services are on the horizon, Vietri said, including a business-to-business exchange. "We want to directly connect suppliers with armored car companies and their purchasing agents. Our software is built for it."

Ultimately, the men believe the market will decide the site's content. "We want the armored industry to take hold of this and help drive where it goes," Gowans said.

So far, the pair has invested $65,000 in the Boise, Idaho-based site, which was built by a local design firm called iPlan.

The site is an associate member of the Independent Armored Car Operators Association (IACOA), and the two men have attended a number of industry trade shows to promote it. They've been pleased at the site's growth, considering the lack of full-blown marketing efforts.

The pair did not disclose how many Web surfers have signed up for a free site membership. "We've seen 100 percent growth from month to month each month that we've been in business," Gowans said.

Initial feedback has been largely positive, Gowans said, and even the few negative comments have been constructive. "We're not getting 'hey your site stinks.'"

The biggest challenge they've encountered so far is the highly secretive nature of a business that doesn't necessarily want to talk about how it handles security challenges and other potentially sensitive issues.

"We want people to know that we're not interested in putting anything derogatory to the industry out there," Vietri said. "We don't want to ignore problems, but we want to put information and news out there that will help people solve them."