SSN recognizes rising end users

YARMOUTH, Maine—This year's Security Systems News End User “20 under 40” award winners (linked below) are in a class by themselves.

Their backgrounds are varied. A number started out working as security guards during their college days, learned the system inside and out and worked their way up to top jobs. Others, also achieving success at a relatively young age, have a history in the military; a couple were on track for a career in law but opted for private security. Mentors figured prominently in their decisions.

Christopher Moore was working in law enforcement when a mentor “sold me on private security,” he said. He learned the business “from the ground up,” and after the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 he was drawn to hospital security. He now is the manager of public safety, security and switchboard for Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Plymouth, Mass.

Now these young professionals, the future of the physical security industry, work in health care settings, for regional utilities, major hospitality venues and more. Their employers include NASA, Halliburton, GameStop, Georgia Power Company, Marvel Entertainment and Western Union.

The melding of physical security with IT is a hot topic with most of the winners. “We will continue to need to be knowledgeable about traditional physical security areas like guards, barriers and lighting, but it's now critical that security professionals understand IT and IT security,” said Jon Luhman, physical security manager for the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Md.

Other topics winners broached with SSN included facial recognition technology, the integration of all their systems into one platform and drones.

Moore likened effective security to mixing a perfect cocktail. “You need the right combination of ingredients but over time the taste buds change. What you need to do is continue to re-evaluate and adjust the ingredients over time,” he said.

This year's "20 under 40" End Users are listed below:

Anjen� Abston, SL Green Realty

Robert Batista, Kane Realty Corporation

Ross Bourgeois, Mercedes-Benz Superdome/Smoothie King Center/Champion Square

Jason Brown, Wells Fargo

Brent Castagnetto, Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Mike Cholubko, City of Windsor

Edwin “Eddy” Collier, MGM Resorts International

Larry Gladhill, Boston Scientific

Michael Gonzalez, Hawaiian Electric

Andre LaLiberte, Halliburton Energy Services

Jon Luhman, National Cancer Institute

Christopher C. Moore, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital

Andre Podpolucha, Western Union

John Schroeder, GameStop

Matthew Slatoff, Marvel Entertainment

Ronnie Stevens, NASA, Johnson Space Center

Jeppie Sumpter, Western Kentucky University

Reggy Timothee, Comcast

Steven Ullom, Switch Ltd.

Rob Warmack, Georgia Power Company

We hope you enjoy reading the profiles of this impressive group of security professionals in the profiles below and on the next few pages. Each will honored at the SSN's TechSec Solutions conference Feb. 2-3 in Delray Beach, Fla.