20 Under 40

YARMOUTH, Maine—Security Systems News is proud to recognize another class of promising young professionals with its “20 under 40” awards. Among this year's honorees are professionals from large security companies—including ADT, Securitas Electronic Security and G4S—as well as stand-out end users such as KeyBank, Harley Davidson and the Cleveland Indians.“We were really impressed by this year's 20 under 40 award winners,” Paul Ragusa, editor of SSN, said....

John Bekisz Jr., 31Systems integration manager, Securitas Electronic Security Inc.Elmsford, N.Y.John Bekisz Jr. is a systems integration manager at Securitas Electronic Security Inc. (SES), where he manages the engineering and integration of technology systems for one of the company's infrastructure transportation projects. The project encompasses a variety of security technology systems including video surveillance, access control, intrusion detection, security systems management, network management...

Shannon Beritzhoff, 31Branch manager, First AlarmRichmond, Calif.First Alarm has five locations, and Shannon Beritzhoff is the branch manager of the company's Richmond, Calif., branch. She handles a lot of the day-to-day operations of the branch, including billing, service, fire inspections and installations.Beritzhoff came to work with First Alarm through the company's acquisition of Sentry Alert in late 2010, a company she joined just after college. “I've now been here for nine and a half...

John Butrim, 37Director of national accounts, ADT SecurityPompano Beach, Fla.As Director of national accounts for ADT Security, John Butrim focuses on the multi-family and homeowners' association (HOA) divisions, including sales, installation and customer service.“So we've got that sales function and then also here in Pompano we've got a team that handles the customer care, the liaison portion of the HOA relationship, so we work directly with the property managers and the board of directors...

Joshua Cummings, 38Director, engineering services, VTI SecurityBurnsville, Minn.As director of engineering services for national commercial integrator VTI Security, Joshua Cummings manages a team of 18 people responsible for all of the presales design support, post-sales documentation and jurisdiction permitting.He also heads up all of the training programs for VTI, such as training for engineering staff, field staff, and project management staff, for example, as well as bringing in customers and...

Michael A. DeVita III, 37General manager, Securadyne SystemsAndover, Mass.Michael DeVita III initially started in the security industry as a summer job, which led into a greater interest, he said. He started in the industry with Surveillance Specialties 17 years ago, a company that was acquired by Securadyne Systems five years ago.“After being exposed to the industry for a summer, I took a liking to the physical security world and began to gain an understanding of the technical side of things...

Kevin Didden, 37Senior manager, security programs and administration, MTANew YorkPrior to joining the internal security department for MTA Bridges and Tunnels just over a year ago, Kevin Didden spent most of his security career as an integrator. “The MTA is the first time that I have worked for an end user, being the customer rather than the guy trying to sell services,” he said.Coming from the integrator community has helped Didden in his current role where he handles all of MTA Bridges...

Vince DiGennaro, 25Manager, event security operations, Cleveland IndiansCleveland, OhioAs the Cleveland Indians' event security operations manager, no two days are the same at the ballpark for Vince DiGennaro, as he oversees all of the safety and security operations for events at Progressive Field.“We provide safety and security operations for game day, so that includes a staff of more than 225 that performs screening operations, incident response, and conflict de-escalation at the ballpark,”...

Greg Ghirardi, 40VP, strategic manager, physical security solutions, KeyBankClevelandGreg Ghirardi started his career in security at MBNA America Bank. “I found it to be really interesting. So, I stayed in the security world,” he said.When MBNA was acquired by Bank of America in 2006, he moved to KeyBank's fraud group. After working for about two years with KeyBank, Ghirardi said he “had the opportunity to follow a mentor into the physical security space and have been in that space...

Jesse Johnson, 37Corporate security lead, Harley-Davidson Motor CompanyMilwaukeeJesse Johnson studied criminal justice as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and decided to pursue the private sector. “I got my foot in the door here at Harley-Davidson as a contractor in 2004,” he said, holding roles as a security officer, shift supervisor, and account manager with the company since then.Johnson assumed his current role as the corporate security lead for Harley-Davidson...