GuardLogic, a Lexington-based security company, has grown more than 300% over the past three years, landing it a spot on the Inc. 5000 list.
Dan Truex remembers the first contract he and partner Marcus Sell secured in 2017 for their fledgling unarmed physical security company. It was modest — four hours of security at an event — but it was a start, and the Lexington-based company was happy to have it. One hour before the event started, the contractor they had hired called to say he would not make it. What to do? Sell canceled a dinner date with his wife and covered the event himself.
“That was the culture and the DNA we developed from the start for our new company, which has taken us from just the two of us to more than 250 employees in Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia,” said Truex, the CEO of that start-up that evolved into a company called GuardLogic.
GuardLogic co-founder and CEO Dan Truex is a lieutenant with the Lexington Police Department and a 26-year veteran of the National Guard.
Now GuardLogic is celebrating national recognition. The physical security company has been named one of the fastest-growing private companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 list. The magazine’s list has been produced every year since 1982 and uses data to rank businesses. GuardLogic was ranked 1,826 after reporting 307% growth over the past three years.
In praising companies that made the list, Inc.’s editor-in-chief said that running a business today is much harder since the end of the pandemic and that those on the list had rapid growth despite dealing with inflationary pressures and higher costs of labor and materials. “We have an amazing team that works tirelessly to change the reputation of security,” Truex said.
The CEO admits that the public does not have a positive impression of security officers. He says the field is getting crowded, and he is fine with that, but believes it is also populated with companies that do a poor job of staffing and training. “We decided to provide high-quality security officers with good training and a high level of responsiveness to clients,” he said.
Truex is a lieutenant with the Lexington Police Department and a 26-year veteran of the National Guard, where he has been a company commander. “Police and military know security well. They know the training and the fundamentals of security. That’s important if we are going to build a quality of service that will change the image of security.”
Typically, the security work involves patrols, either by vehicle or on foot. That’s the base level. There is also a team of area directors who constantly monitor the officers onsite and stay in close contact with clients. “Clients have told us they have seen us more in two weeks than they saw a previous security provider in six months,” Truex said. “If you don’t build a relationship and understand a client’s needs, and what your officers’ needs are, you can’t provide a quality product.”
GuardLogic specializes in security work for companies involved in manufacturing and healthcare, as well as corporate headquarters. The company’s work generally covers three main types of security. The first is provided by unarmed security officers who use technology to share information about when, where, and what was patrolled and inspected at a customer’s site.
The next is the use of off-duty local law enforcement personnel to fill security jobs. Only sworn peace officers are hired for this duty. These highly trained professionals also enforce local laws.
The third category of security offered is event monitoring. This can include every kind of large gathering, from sports events to festivals, horse races, and even auctions.
GuardLogic offers several levels of site monitoring and unarmed security services for facilities and events.
Certain traits are necessary for a security officer to be effective. According to GuardLogic, the fundamentals of security are to deter, detect, delay, and document. The first one is most important. “We want officers to deter anything negative from ever happening. You do that by being alert, present, and professional. It is best for our clients if nothing ever happens.”
But problems do happen, no matter how tight security is. If that occurs, and it is especially serious, it is vital to delay the outcome as best as possible, says Truex. That means reducing or mitigating an incident while officers onsite assess things and get additional responders, such as the police, fire department, or EMS, whether the emergency is a fire or an active shooter.
Another issue is the increase in law breaking and violence. “Yes, we have seen that trend,” Truex said. “It has ramped up over the last decade so there is a need for security and for integrating technology to solve problems.”
Asked why he believes GuardLogic is different than other unarmed physical security companies, Truex points to analytics, which he believes helps the company gather insights and meaningful data that officers in the field might not detect. This helps the company make informed decisions, increase its roster of clients, cut costs, and make other business improvements. “We are big on reports and analytics. We need data to adjust security and see what we learned from the incident.”
For example, heat mapping is used by GuardLogic. The company creates a map or footprint of the client’s property, and technicians plot what incidents occurred when and where. These are called “hotspots.” The question becomes, what resources or techniques should be applied to solve those problems?
Truex is proud that the company employs no salesperson or sales team. “We have grown by referral and word-of-mouth advertising,” he said. “That will have to change as we grow, but we hope the public is saying ‘Wow. This is something different!’”