Company Spotlight: AGB Investigative Services

AGB Investigative Services is a Chicago-based security company. Its acronym, AGB, represents the company’s meaningful mission to Always Give Back to its communities, clients, and each other. 

Co-founded in 2001 by CEO John Griffin Jr., AGB has created hundreds of professional opportunities for adults, particularly minorities in underserved areas of Chicago, in addition to establishing 2 non-profit organizations dedicated to workforce development and life skills training. 

It’s amazing to provide jobs for over 800 individuals, while partnering with vendors minority- and women-owned businesses across the nation. We are making a true economic impact locally and nationally.
John Griffin JR., CEO & Co-Founder, AGB Investigative Services

Clearly determined to live every day by its company’s mission to “always give back,” the company serves as a source of protection for its clients and the greater Chicago community. In fact, AGB has improved the quality of life in some of the most violent areas of Chicago. Through its training programs, AGB has decreased crime in the Chicago Housing Authority by 90%.

Having grown up in the notorious Englewood neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, John Griffin Jr. originally founded the company to provide economic independence for his family as well as leave a legacy for his children, but his intention has always been for the company to be a ministry that assists people in need—an intention shared by AGB’s 800+ employees who represent the largest group of donors to the AGB Foundation (https://agbfd.org/support). The AGB Foundation provides internships and scholarships to Chicago’s minority youth and to empower families through financial literacy and education. 

John Griffin Jr.’s motto is “Do for self.” Says John Griffin Jr., “No one is going to change your condition unless you change it yourself. It begins with controlling your own destiny through social, economic, political, and academic legacy.” 

 

Company Spotlight: Warhawk Group Security 

Warhawk Group Security is a San Antonio, Texas-based private security firm owned and operated by Clarence M. Redrick who employs 15 guards at the present time. On March 21, 2020, the company will celebrate its very first anniversary. Asked about his motivation for launching the new company, Clarence says he recognized a need not only to bring a new professionalism to the industry, but a desire to mentor a group of diverse individuals.

I wanted to start a security company that highlighted that customer service, professionalism, and reliability is still important to the security industry, which has historically had such a tarnished image. I wanted to bring those qualities back, reinvent the industry’s image in a positive way?
Clarence M. Redrick, CEO, Warhawk Group Security

On being an entrepreneur in the security industry, Clarence says he has to wear multiple hats. In some cases, he readily admits he doesn’t have formal training, but it’s important for him to learn everyone’s role and then train his employees so that they understand their responsibilities. For Clarence, the sole owner of the company, it means willingly giving up your free time to always be on call for anything and everything, be it an employee who doesn’t show up, a last-minute post addition, a change in an employee’s availability, or other events that you can’t control. 

Thanks to Clarence’s leadership, his employees are driven to deliver a top-notch service. They have learned that the way Clarence respects them is the way they respect each other, the company, and the client. His employees take pride in the purpose of the job versus the profit of the job. 

Clarence’s motto is “Security – done right,” a statement he acknowledges speaks volumes about the professionalism, the duties, and the level of care his company provides. According to Clarence, Warhawk Group Security is not a cookie cutter company. The company focuses solely on hiring the very best talent from a diverse pool of individuals, so that when the company is contracted to provide security services to a new client, the client recognizes the company’s commitment to responsibility, diversity, and inclusion.