An Elite Approach to Safeguarding People and Assets
RICE Security & Consulting mitigates security risks through education, training
![Ricky Davis, President and CEO of RICE Security & Consulting, LLC.](storyassets/carolinas/feature_stories/F18_NC_FS4_An_Elite_Approach_To_Safeguarding/F18_NC_FS4_Interior 1.jpg)
Ricky Davis, President and CEO of RICE Security & Consulting, LLC.
![Training a construction site security officer to use the Contractor Management System. This training adds value to a client’s project by integrating technology to track personnel and protect critical assets during each phase of construction.](storyassets/carolinas/feature_stories/F18_NC_FS4_An_Elite_Approach_To_Safeguarding/F18_NC_FS4_Interior 2.jpg)
Training a construction site security officer to use the Contractor Management System. This training adds value to a client’s project by integrating technology to track personnel and protect critical assets during each phase of construction.
Founding father Benjamin Franklin once said, “Distrust and caution are the parents of security.” It is no secret that the world today is fraught with all sorts of hazards, creating a need for heightened awareness and vigilance. That is why RICE Security & Consulting, LLC exists: to help clients mitigate physical threats and manage security risks (cyber and information) by providing an array of security training and human resources solutions, technical and logistics guidance and emergency planning.
RICE Security & Consulting (RSC), based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, is led by President and CEO Ricky Davis, a retired Army Command Sergeant Major. The company’s primary mission is to deliver comprehensive security programs designed to protect the people and critical assets of construction firms, corporations, federal agencies, academic institutions and others.
On the front lines of this charge is an elite class of safety experts whose unique camaraderie has united them to safeguard people’s interests in remarkable ways.
A Leadership Force Like No Other
Founded in 2009 by Davis, RSC is a certified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business that hangs its hat on four core beliefs: trust, accountability, loyalty and integrity. In addition to Davis, RSC’s executive leadership team consists of two other military veterans: Scott Custer (CFO) and Samuel Glover (COO).
During his 27-year military career, Davis served as a combat paratrooper, a Deputy Security Force Advisor Team Chief and in other intelligence positions. He earned his undergraduate degree in criminal justice and protective services from Excelsior College and a master’s degree from Webster University’s George Herbert Walker School of Business and Technology.
Custer graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a B.S. in engineering and earned a Master of Education in organizational leadership from Long Island University. Custer’s professional experience spans nearly three decades of personnel, logistics and global leadership responsibilities. At RSC, he is the principal business strategist who handles everything from contracts to business management to business analysis and performance.
With more than a quarter-century of experience in both federal and private sectors, Glover is an expert in standard operating procedures, guidelines, regulations and policies. His skills in management principles and techniques, public relations and personnel administration are put to excellent use at RSC, where he serves as an advisor to the senior executive staff and handles federal and commercial business management tasks.
Today, these “brothers in arms” who once served together overseas channel their strong work ethics into running a loyal, disciplined team that is exceptional in many areas—including collaboration and problem-solving. Trust, above all else, is essential to the foundation of this company, which strives to build first-class relationships by demonstrating a thorough understanding of clients’ needs, delivering project solutions in a timely manner, and instilling confidence in program offerings through comprehensive education and training measures.
A Shared Calling to Preserve, Protect
Given their shared military calling, it was only natural for Davis, Custer and Glover to seek civilian careers centered on preserving and protecting others.
“After our service in the military, we began to wonder, what do we do with all of this requisite global operational security knowledge?” Davis recollects. “Also, what could we do to support our cities and communities in which we live and work?”
As Davis and his colleagues pondered these questions, they began their involvement with ASIS International, the world’s largest security management professional organization.
“ASIS provided us access to CEOs and chief security officers from almost every business sector imaginable,” Davis says. This organization provided RSC’s leaders with crucial guidance on structuring their company to meet the safety needs of various sectors. As they contemplated RSC’s niche in the security market, he recalls how one specific industry caught their attention.
“Construction was one area that appealed to us. When you drive around and see all these construction projects—and the millions and sometimes billions of dollars invested in personnel, equipment and assets—you find there’s often little to no security. It became clear to us that there was a need for our expertise,” Davis says.
This observation paved the way for RSC to adopt the ASIS Enterprise Security Risk Management (ESRM) model. This strategic initiative soon became an integral business vertical geared toward meeting the needs of construction companies not just in the Fayetteville area, but throughout the entire eastern and southeastern U.S.
CMS: A Digital Tool for Accountability
While trust is the RSC’s foundation, accountability is its cornerstone. As part of its ESRM platform, RSC offers its proprietary Contractor Management System (CMS) to facilitate accountability through the integration of security risk management principles, vulnerability assessment and guard services. This digital tool was developed by Davis and another military colleague, retired Sergeant First Class Robert Wilson, using Microsoft’s Azure cloud-computing service.
In a nutshell, CMS gives contractors, site superintendents and other project stakeholders the ability to track personnel in real time, thus creating another layer of security and site accountability. Years ago, while at a Blue Book Network convention in Greensboro, North Carolina, Davis used his iPhone to show several general contractors how CMS works—including how the program generates a secure link that can be used to monitor staff activities from any device with Wi-Fi access. Impressed with the system’s capabilities, these newfound business connections were eager to learn more.
CMS enables users to monitor anyone hired to work at a construction site—including subcontractors and temporary workers. The program creates a personalized quick response (QR) code for each worker. The QR code is placed on workers’ hard hats, which are scanned at the beginning and end of each shift by trained security guards. The system tracks the locations of these individuals (and their job specialties) and even provides emergency contact information should a medical incident arise. These elements go a long way torward ensuring project integrity by protecting personnel and, by extension, assets—a major advantage during critical and peak operational phases.
Another benefit of CMS is that it decreases downtime and revenue loss due to theft. Davis shares, “As with any construction project, there are thousands of dollars of equipment and materials on-site. Unfortunately, theft is not uncommon. However, that risk is mitigated by the system because we can track who was on the job site and when.”
He continues, “Currently, CMS is being utilized in our hometown of Fayetteville on a sports venue being built by the city.” Barton Malow is the general contractor for the project, a new baseball stadium and entertainment venue set to open in April 2019. Once complete, this $37.8 million sports complex will permanently house a minor league baseball team affiliated with the Houston Astros.
RSC is also exploring a partnership with the NBA and its All-Star Game coming to Charlotte, North Carolina, in February 2019. “We are working to align our CMS to work with this sporting event and all its moving parts,” Davis says.
RSC’s CMS program will continue to evolve and change to meet many different applications, Davis notes. “We have a phenomenal partnership with the North Carolina Department of Public Safety, as well as North Carolina Department of Transportation partners who are out there on highways,” he says. “We know the work they do is vital and dangerous, and we believe CMS is something they could utilize in the future. At the end of the day, our CMS is designed to get workers home safely, protect valuable assets, and provide a level of actionable accountability for construction leaders.”
As RSC looks to grow its application of ESRM within the construction industry, there will be deliberate focus on maintaining quality and expanding flexibility.
“In construction, things change rapidly,” Davis emphasizes. “It is not only our job to identify those changes, but to provide solutions for them.” As such, RSC is looking to lead a paradigm shift where risk management and security are not an afterthought in the pre-construction phase, but an overarching theme throughout the entire project.
With Davis and his team geared up to combat all manner of physical threats and security risks, their duty to protect personnel, assets and a client’s bottom line may certainly make this mission possible.
![Ryan Bender](storyassets/contributors/Ryan_Bender.jpg)