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Frank A. Argenbright Jr. has a long history of facing adversity and overcoming it in amazing ways. He began his career in the polygraph business, and his company grew to be the largest polygraphing company in the world. Just as this happened though, there were changes in governmental policy and laws that put a portion of the company out of business.
Despite this, he had already been building a security company, so with just a few hundred dollars in his wallet, he took over Argenbright Security, part of AHL Services, a nearly billion-dollar, publicly traded company. The division was the fifth-largest security company in the country and the largest aviation screening company in the country, with more than 40 percent of the market. He wanted to take the division private but was outbid on his own company, so he lost control of the security business to a British company.
With this, his name was left on the company because it represented a strong brand, but after the Sept. 11 attacks being tied to the screening operations, his name was hurt, despite no longer having anything to do with the day-to-day operations. Despite this, he worked diligently to rebuild his name in the industry. He went back to some of his old customers, and they were eager to re-establish business with him, so in May 2002, AirServ was born. SecurAmerica LLC was born in late 2004. SecurAmerica originally operated in just three markets but now operates in about 22 markets around the U.S. He has more than 8,000 employees, and revenue has grown tremendously. Argenbright, who serves as his companies’ chairman, has also had both of his companies recognized for several growth awards, and he continues to look forward for future growth opportunities, as well.
How to reach: SecurAmerica LLC, (404) 926-4222 or www.securamericallc.com
