Weiss opens Directive-7

HOUSTON--Dan Weiss, founder and former chief executive officer at integrator Infrastruct, has long been beating the drum for the regulated security market, noting that the critical infrastructure market is a huge opportunity getting increasingly larger thanks to government mandates regarding base-line security measures. Now, he’ll try his hand at consulting with manufacturers looking to bring products to market to address regulations like CFATS. With his new company, Directive-7-a name that references HSPD-7, which “establishes a national policy for Federal departments and agencies to identify and prioritize United States critical infrastructure and key resources and to protect them from terrorist attacks”-Weiss is “targeting two types of companies: one that’s not in the security business at all, and might be thinking of getting into the industrial/commercial side of things ... [or] ... someone in the security business that wants to get more into the regulated, chemical/industrial segment.” Because of his continuing relationship with Infrastruct-he remains on the board of directors-he can’t be in the integration business on the Gulf Coast. Further, because of his entrepreneurial past, he said, “I’m not interested in just getting a consulting fee. I want to help in the creation of something, and I’ll only do it for a product that offers a unique value. Otherwise, I won’t waste my time.” “I want to build up a firm,” he said. “It has a bit of a flavor of an angel [investment] fund, but it’s something in which we have to take a very active role ... I hope my clients grow, not my firm.” “There are all kinds of regulations coming into the security industry,” he said, “and I certainly think in the election cycle there will be more. I’m looking for clients that are looking for these opportunities on a global basis.”