Tag: Class of 2019

For 20 years at Cooperative Response Center, Laura Penrod has helped people — a subscriber with a medical PERS unit, someone with a security panel and everyone in between. She began her security career as shift operator, moving into team lead and into her current position as central station coordinator. “I've experienced many different aspects of our central station, and witnessed first-hand and taken part in implementing changes as hardware and software progressions were made,”...

Joshua A. Charfauros serves as the regional director for COMBS Consulting Group, where he is responsible for leading his team through day-to-day operations, including technology and security design; consulting and project management; and leading all international projects.Security was always a calling for Charfauros. He explains, “I was getting ready to attend college in California just before 9/11 happened. I remember watching the events unfold on TV thinking to myself, how can I help? I went...

With a background in education as an elementary school teacher, Ebony Haywood said that her security journey is definitely happenstance and being in the right place at the right time. “Ironically, one of our families [referring to a student's family] owned a security business and when I was looking for a change, they took a chance on me,”Haywood said, starting out on a part-time basis and transitioning into operations coordinator. “At the time, I did not understand the business...

During his college days, Juergen Henry was looking for a job where he could also attend classes and a good friend of his, a dispatcher at COPS Monitoring, referred him to the company. Henry also became a dispatcher and really enjoyed helping people. “It became evident rather quickly that COPS was where I wanted to make a career,” Henry said.Since his time as a dispatcher, Henry has had the chance to work under the supervision of and side-by-side with some leaders who helped him strive...

It wasn't until Mark Grudzien attended ESX in Nashville that he officially settled on a career in security. There, he discovered firsthand from business owners what drove the figures he had seen on paper during his first year as a primary underwriter at CIBC, as well as their passion and dedication. “That component along with the tightknit community with the industry are aspects of security I find both unique and attractive,” he said.In his current role, Grudzien is primarily focused...

Drew Weston, CPP, has been a technology evangelist with CodeLynx for the last nine years, helping federal, state and commercial clients understand the impacts to security programs from new technology and new ways of doing business. He has served in various leadership roles within CodeLynx including facility security officer.In terms of his love for security and IT, Weston said it has always been a “family affair” for him. “I have family that worked in the DoD space doing access...

Michael Castillo joined Aronson Security Group (ASG), a Security Risk Management Services (SRMS) provider, in June 2017. Since ASG merged with ADT Commercial in February 2018, his role has been essential in building and implementing eSRG's processes and procedures and plans to scale within ADT Commercial.“I also simultaneously manage client security consulting projects and lead cross functional security teams with budgets in the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars while also providing...

While studying criminology at Florida State University, Sean Owens needed a job to help pay for college. “Retail loss prevention caught my attention and I was hooked!” he exclaimed. Roles, such as plain clothes detective and corporate level positions, prepped him for his current role in healthcare security.Daily, Owens is responsible for all aspects of physical public safety and leads a team of public safety professionals whose sole focus is on providing for the safety and security of...

Matthew Webster's electrical trades/integrated cabling teacher at Ocean County Vocational-Technical School in Toms River, New Jersey, encouraged him to mix his IT background with the skills he was developing. “IT and electrical trades meshed so well in the security field, it felt like a natural fit,” he said. “I competed in New Jersey Skills USA [a national organization serving teachers and students preparing for careers in technical, skilled and service occupations], and after...

As the Senior Security Consultant at AEI, Patrick Milnamow provides security consulting, design, threat and risk assessments, workplace violence program, benchmarking and security master planning services.“My day-to-day responsibilities involve working directly with developers, architects, owners and applicable trades disciplines (project coordination) for existing and new construction projects,” he said, adding continuing education with vendors and industry practitioners to the list.Milnamow...