SIA New Member Profile: Paratus Consultants Group

New Security Industry Association (SIA) member Paratus Consultants Group is a full-service safety and security, risk reduction, mitigation and emergency preparedness consulting firm. The company is headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, and works across the United States and internationally.

SIA spoke with Herb Ubbens, CPP, PSP, PPS, president of Paratus Consultants Group, about the company, the security industry and working with SIA.

Tell us the story of your company.

Herb Ubbens: Paratus Consultants Group began in 2018 after leaving the commercial real estate risk and security world with our two main principals – myself and Robert Batista, PPS. Robert and I began working together more than 20 years ago and have served as chief security officers and directors of risk and facilities over the course of 20+ years. We operated multibillion-dollar mixed-use facilities where we were responsible for the overall operations, which included facilities and engineering as well as security. Coincidentally, our paths in the security field started when we were in college. We both started in the security side of things, and over the years our roles continued to evolve and take on additional responsibilities. We found ourselves being the internal consultants, master planners, security and life safety system specifier and designers, protective service providers, risk and operations managers,  event protection planners, protection providers and large-scale project managers.  

What solutions/services does your business offer in the security industry? And what makes your offerings or your company unique?

HU: Managing and being a part of 20+ years of continuous construction, development and management of projects and protective services staff puts us in a unique position to offer our clients a practitioner’s perspective of the security industry. We understand the industry, the products, the nuances and the pitfalls. We have watched the industry evolve and have evolved along with it.

Our operational and facilities experiences help us bring value beyond security when conducting risk assessments and training. We often understand the management challenges and provide solutions based on what we have done in the past. We can commiserate with the client, and this seems to bode well with them. This is also invaluable when conducting assessments, when we can walk into a facility and hear or smell something that is not operating properly or should be operating in a certain manner and bring it to their attention. They get not only a security assessment, but a safety and operations assessment as well. This helps to reduce the overall risk for the client.

We are actively involved in organizations such as SIA, ASIS International, ASTM, InfraGard, NYPD SHIELD and the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP). I am a member of SIA’s Perimeter Security Subcommittee, hold the chair position of the ASIS RTP Chapter, serve as the commercial facilities sector chief for Infragard in North Carolina, am a member of the ASTM F12 Committee and serve as vice chair of the ASIS Commercial Real Estate Community. Robert is the Hispanic liaison for the ASSP, a member of InfraGard and the vice chair for the North Carolina Research Triangle chapter of ASIS International. 

We also understand the force protection challenges, as that was a component of our responsibilities, eventually licensing our security team in North Carolina and taking on third-party contract security work at the request of others. Today our clients may range from Fortune 500 companies, college campuses and hospital systems to large manufacturing and commercial real estate.

What’s something we might not know about your company – or something new you’re doing in security?

HU: We work across multiple sectors and have a strong focus on not only security but also health and safety. We provide safety management as a service in support of organizations that have existing safety programs and work as a third-party consultant for our construction and integrator clients. We are also OSHA certified trainers providing basic and advanced health and safety programs across the construction and general industries. All of our training is available in English and Spanish.

We have recently launched a Protective Design Group within the company. We are taking a unique approach to protective design and will focus on blending protective measures into the building and environment landscape. We will work closely with architects, engineers and landscape architects to educate them on the value of crime prevention through environmental design concepts and threat assessments, what we look for and the how and why of protective design. We will also focus on mass gatherings and events. Materials and solutions have changed over the last 10 years. Our goal is to incorporate some of the new materials and designs into new design as well as the already-built environment. Incorporating materials and technologies such as ballistic concrete, bullet-resistant and blast films, advanced threat modeling and temporary and semipermanent mitigation strategies helps us to keep people safe. 

What are the biggest challenges facing your company and/or others in the security industry?

HU: There are many fine consultants in our field. Our biggest challenge is finding the right-fit clients for us.

What does SIA offer that is most important to you/your company? And what do you most hope to get out of your membership with SIA?

HU: SIA is a leading organization in the security industry and offers excellent opportunities of the security industry such as technology and integration side. SIA also leads when it comes to representing the industry in government relations.

How does your organization engage with SIA? What are your plans for involvement in the next year?

HU: We plan on continuing to attend local SIAThere! events, regional events such as GovSummit and Perimeter PREVENT in D.C., as well as ISC West and East conferences. We are also members of the Perimeter Security Subcommittee. I will be presenting at ISC West 2024 through InfraGard.

The views and opinions expressed in guest posts and/or profiles are those of the authors or sources and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Security Industry Association.