The $104 million contract is the largest Whitestone has with the FAA, he said. The company helped the FAA develop a national training standard for the private armed security companies with which it contracts, ultimately landing the new contract for the entire East Coast.
The contract goes into effect Oct. 1, Clark said.
Whitestone will provide security at individual FAA facilities like air traffic control towers, not whole airports, Clark said.
Very cool and for those on the East coast looking for work, this opportunity might be a good hit for you. I suspect these contracts will pay a little bit better than your standard security gig, just because this is protecting FAA facilities only. If bad guys make it into a traffic control tower, they could cause a lot of damage. With the spat of folks infiltrating supposedly secure facilities these days, guards like this are pretty important as the last line of defense.
A great example of what I am talking about for breaches was the stranded jet skier that wandered onto the JFK airport property–bypassing millions of dollars worth of security systems. This embarrassing incident is right up there with the nuclear facility breaching incident. So Whitestone Group should learn from these deals and work hard to maintain topnotch security for the FAA. The FAA should also stay on top of this contract to make sure they get the service they need. Trust, but verify.
For actually working this contract, I would go to the employment section of the website and submit that way. On Linkedin, you can find a few folks with the company, or have worked for them in the past. I have not seen anything specific in their career section for this particular contract and folks will have to pursue it on their own by contacting the recruiter or doing a little online research. –Matt
Whitestone Group webpage here.
Linkedin for company here.
Whitestone Group to provide security at FAA facilities along East Coast
By Rick Rouan
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A fast-growing private security firm in Columbus has landed a $104 million contract to provide armed guards for the Federal Aviation Administration along the East Coast.
Whitestone Group Inc. will provide about 368 guards at 34 FAA sites, including towers, air traffic control facilities and other venues, CEO John Clark said. Those guards are all professional security officers, which Clark said requires about 60 hours of training.