In his role as chairman of the Security Industry Association (SIA), Denis Hébert, president of Feenics Inc., welcomed security industry luminaries to the annual meeting of SIA Membership on the first day of ISC West 2018 on Tuesday.

Hébert addressed SIA Members at the meeting, which is known as The Advance, to recognize significant achievements by industry leaders.

James Marcella, Director, Industry Associations, Axis Communications, was named 2017 SIA Committee Chair of the Year for his work that included the co-creation of the curriculum for the Systems Technology Associate in Applied Science Degree in Security Systems and Technologies, while also serving as the main instructor. He led the update of the Security Project Management Common Body of Knowledge Guidebook, has served as a member of the ISC Education Conference Advisory Board, assisted with the development of Securing New Ground executive conference program content, and currently champions the Certified Security Project Manager (CSPM) certification.

Hébert also recognized Ted Curtin of Repworks Inc. and Joel Schwartz of LCA Sales with the SIA Sandy Jones Volunteer of the Year Awards for 2017. Curtin and Schwartz were instrumental in pioneering a new category with in the SIA membership – a category for manufacturer’s representatives in the security industry. They are also forming a SIA council to better identify the needs of rep firms, and they will co-chair that effort.

Richard Brent, CEO of Louroe Electronics, received the 2017 SIA Chairman’s Award for his work supporting key government relations initiatives and leading the SIA International Relations Committee. Brent, through his service on the SIA Board of Directors and as Chair of the SIA International Relations Committee, has forged relationships between SIA and agencies like the U.S. Commercial Service. He has been a longtime advocate for government engagement generally and exports specifically, and his efforts resulted in the publication of the SIA Export Assistance Guide last year as a tool to assist SIA member companies exploring export opportunities or expanding their participation in trade. 

Hébert also welcomed Scott Schafer, Principal at SMS Advisors LLC, as new SIA Chairman of the Board, and welcomed new voting members of the Board of Directors. They include:

•             Scott Dunn, Senior Director, Business Development Solutions & Services, Axis Communications

•             Janet Fenner, Director, Business Development, Dahua Technology

•             Mike Foynes, Senior Director, Global Security, Microsoft Corporation

•             John E. Mack III, Executive Vice President, Co-Head of Investment Banking, Imperial Capital, LLC

•             Tom Nakatani, Vice President, IT, Customer Monitoring Technology, ADT

The full list of SIA board members is available at https://www.securityindustry.org/about-sia/board-of-directors/. 

As he concluded the meeting, Hébert said, “Standing here is somewhat bittersweet. It’s always a pleasure to be with you all, but this is also the last time I’ll stand here as your chairman to lead SIA’s annual meeting. To that end, I want to say thank you. It has been an honor to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Directors over the last two years, and I thank all our members, committee members, staff, partners and fellow board members for their contribution toward making SIA an outstanding organization.”