Security guard companies monitor and evolve with current industry norms and market trends - by Daniel Sarno

After a year of confusion and turmoil, the security industry navigated through some of the most unusual changes than ever seen before. As CFO of New England Security, it has given me a great sense of accomplishment knowing that our security firm was right in the trenches with the brave men and women that led a cohesive effort in battling the pandemic directly and indirectly.

Contract security is an interesting business. There is a need for our services during the best of times and the worst of times. Last year was certainly one extreme example of an increased need for security under the worst circumstances. Our priorities shifted literally overnight. While our retail security and special events division canceled simultaneously, we saw a dramatic uptick in construction site security. When the city of Boston ordered a complete shut down of all construction sites due to the virus, we were called in for round-the-clock coverage to watch over millions of dollars worth of assets and product. Construction has since resumed and I am eternally grateful for the hard work our guards put in to protecting the interests of our clients and for preserving the integrity of valuable construction projects that the public will soon enjoy.

The pandemic has allowed us not only to recognize the quick need for solutions to the challenges we were facing, but also allowed us to evaluate our current procedures and determine what exactly we do that makes us successful. Proactive protection and employee engagement is the key to operating a company where clients and employees alike truly feel appreciated and taken care of. New England Security considers itself as a premium security provider. Instead of basing our sales and rates on pure volume, we base it off of the actual value the client is receiving. Our goal is to provide our clients with a premium service that they will not find with other security firms. New England Security takes on a proactive and customized approach to make sure our clients’ needs are met and their expectations exceeded. Between our dedicated field managers, quality assurance supervisors, and our 24/7 live dispatch center, we ensure incidences are avoided and problems are taken care of before they even occur.

During the pandemic, new and existing clients dealt with unimaginable changes to their organizations. While it is any security guard company’s duty to actively monitor and evolve with current industry norms and market trends, 2020 was a year that held us to the challenge. Since clients were equally unsure how to navigate through the tough time, New England Security took a proactive approach in expanding our services in areas we never ventured before. This included automated temperature check systems, hand sanitizing systems that were tied to access control gates in office buildings, and a whole slew of social distancing protocols to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 amongst our clients.

As with any company, the overall success is always a team effort. It has been our goal for years to engage our employees in a way that makes us feel like a big family. New England Security is still a small and emerging company, seeing a 33% growth in revenue year over year since 2009. This has afforded us the opportunity to give back to our hard-working employees. Aside from the standard benefits packages that most tend to offer, we go a few extra steps and cover a multitude of other unique benefits such as wellness programs, free and discounted memberships to top gyms, local and national discounts on retail and restaurants, flexible commuter reimbursement plans, and much more. We hold a monthly town hall meeting for all our employees to participate in a round-table discussion on company-wide matters. This truly engages and empowers the employee to be part of our day-to-day management decisions. Clients should feel confident that when they hire a New England Security guard, they are being provided with a well trained, well respected, and empowered employee.

As the dust tends to settle after such a devastating year, we are looking at post-pandemic changes to security. For us, this means diversifying our service and product offerings. Keeping in mind that our services are customized to our clients’ needs and comfort level, we are increasing services such as adding roving patrol routes in and around high crime neighborhoods and expanding on our live remote video monitoring. Our 24/7 dispatch center is capable of monitoring in real time hundreds of video feeds from client sites for true all-day surveillance at a fraction of the cost.

We are excited to be introducing new services and as always, eager to accept the security challenges that come our way. We are proud to be serving the New England area. I urge you to reach out and learn more about what New England Security can offer your organization.

Daniel Sarno is the chief financial officer for New England Security, Malden, Mass.