Page 32 - Security Today, November 2017

It’s a Woman’s World, Too y Ralph C. Jensen
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and rally, exchanging war stories and giving pats on the back. Those days are largely in the past as the industry now has its fair share of women contributing and making a difference.
There likely never was a glass ceiling, fact is, it has just been a man’s world.
As with the technology in the industry, times are changing and Nancy Ford, and many other women, are now filling the rank and file of a booming industry. Ford is the owner of Security101, a franchise integra- tor, based in Salt Lake City. Nancy is one of only two Security101 female owners, and both are part of the larger Security101 franchise. Security101 is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., but franchises are located na- tionwide, largely along the East Coast but stretch across the Midwest, the Mountain States and the West Coast.
Ford’s franchise covers Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada.
“I’ve never felt out of place in the com- pany, or in the industry,” Ford said. “I love technology and the security industry is a per- fect fit for what I want to accomplish dur- ing this part of my career. As a company, we have to be in tune with the market, and we are; and we have the opportunity to share experiences with other corporate franchises, which we do.”
Security 101 was established in 2003, and it operates under a global franchise model where all offices are independently owned and operated. There are 37 offices in 22 states. Ford’s Security 101 Utah office is a certified woman-owned small business, which opened its doors in 2011. It didn’t take long for the Utah office to build up a pretty impressive client list, including Hill Air Force Base, McKesson Pharmaceutical, Boeing, Ultradent, Lockheed Martin and many other equally impressive local and na- tional accounts.
“We design, engineer, install and main- tain end-to-end security systems with com- plete integration,” Ford said. “We offer all the traditional security solutions, and other more advanced solutions, such as drone detection solutions, virtual guard services and ad- vanced analytics for smart cities technology.”
There’s the key word to the Security101 Utah operation, technology. Self-admitted, Ford is a technology person. If the solu- tion is a little out of reach or on the edge of thought, you can bet Ford is involved one
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he security industry has been a man’s world for a long time. Tradeshows used to be when the good old boys would get together
way or another. She’s not in this alone, hus- band, Rob is the vice president of operations and a co-owner. Together, the Fords bring an interesting background in the techie world.
Nancy spent more than 25 years in the corporate world with technology leader- ship experience at American Express and
IBM. She was the director of global disas- ter recovery at AMEX, and was the CIO at American Express Bank. She has plenty of certifications, and recently was named as one of the top “30 Women to Watch.” Nan- cy is an FAA licensed pilot and has been appointed to the National Drone Advisory
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