2023 ESA Board of Directors Election Attracts Major Industry Attention
It’s common for ESA board of director elections to have a modest turnout. We see the association’s most passionate members run and re-run — and their word-of-mouth referral attracts additional folks with new perspectives.
To view both the Associate and Integrator Candidate interviews on ESA’s Security Nation Podcast scroll to the bottom.
Leading up to the 2023 election, there is fresh interest by major players in serving the industry and becoming more involved in the association’s leadership. These individuals come with diverse backgrounds, specialties, and perspectives. The value of working with each of these professionals would undoubtedly benefit the association.
We think, in part, the increase in interest to selflessly serve the industry and ESA can be attributed to the hard work of our new Leadership Identification and Nominating Committee (LINC), led by Kirk MacDowell. The Association would like to thank all our LINC members for their hard and smart work leading up to this year’s election, including:
- Kelly Bond, Partner, Davis Mergers and Acquisitions Group
- Joseph Colosimo, CEO, HomePro
- Anne Ferguson, CMO at NoMo
- Stuart Forchheimer, President, HS Technology Group
- Mark Hillenburg, Vice President of Industry Relations, Digital Monitoring Products
Kirk has been passionate about this initiative with a mission to expand our reach to bring leadership opportunities and a voice to the wide range of the ESA Member Companies we represent coast to coast.
Kirk said, “I think sometimes we continually ask the same people to do the same thing. There’s nothing wrong with that — but we need to diversify our board.”
We are happy to say LINC has made some pretty remarkable progress in its first year. And with that, here are our 2023 ESA Board of Director Nominees.
It takes passion, dedication and drive to be among ESA’s Board of Directors.
These security professionals have tremendous merit. Simply starting a conversation, challenging the status quo, or asking a powerful question can often lead to important changes for the association.
To all nominees, we admire your ambition — and urge you to channel this to best serve our members. We look forward to the opportunity of working with you.
The deadline to cast your vote is Friday, May 26th 2pm CT
Brendan Armstrong – Integrator Director
Controller– Trinity Wiring & Security Solutions, Chantilly, Virginia.
Having spent my entire career at Trinity Wiring & Security Solutions, I consider it a privilege to be able to give back to an industry that has been so good to my family. My career began as a member of our Builder Sales Team while pursuing an undergraduate degree in accounting from George Mason University. After graduation I spent time involved in and learning from all aspects of a security integration / monitoring firm – operations, human resources, business development, financial oversight, merger and acquisition activity, tax strategy, vendor negotiations, etc. After years of hands-on experience, I knew a greater level of classroom instruction was required before truly becoming the business leader I wanted to be so (while continuing to work fulltime) I enrolled at Georgetown University to pursue my Masters in Business Administration. As a leader of our firm, my goal is to create a company culture focused on constantly challenging ourselves by stepping outside of our comfort zone to embrace tomorrow’s technology and implement it into our business units.
Jeremy Bates – Integrator Director (Incumbent)
President – Bates Security, LLC/ Sonitrol of Lexington Inc., Lexington, Kentucky
Jeremy has served on the Board of Directors since 2021.
His family’s company is based in Lexington Kentucky and has a total of four offices. The company is serving primarily a commercial customer base but maintains a strong residential business as well.
The Bates family and their team have grown the company over the last several years and have earned several industry and local awards including being a two-time recipient of the SAMMY’s Installer of the Year for Small to Mid-Size Companies and is also a former recipient of Lexington’s Small Business of the Year. The Bates Family and their company are proud recipients of the 2018 SDM Dealer of the Year Award as well.
Melissa Brinkman – Integrator Director (Incumbent)
CEO – Custom Alarm, Rochester, Minnesota.
Melissa has served on the Board of Directors since 2021.
Melissa started her career in the security industry after moving back to her hometown, Rochester, MN in December 1998. Since starting in the ‘family’ business in 1998, Melissa has held several positions within Custom Alarm from marketing to sales manager, business development director, and customer services manager. She was Chief Operating Officer before Leigh J. Johnson, founder and CEO at the time, announced his retirement and Melissa’s promotion to CEO in February 2014. She has always been very committed to learning as much as possible about the security industry and Custom Alarm with a focus on taking care of the customer.
Custom Alarm has grown to over 65 employees and has won numerous awards including being named one of the Best Places to work in SE Minnesota and SSI 2020 Installer of the Year.
In her spare time Melissa enjoys going to concerts, traveling, photography, and spending time with her kids.
April Maloney – Integrator Director
Vice President of Sales – Guardian Protection, Warrendale, Pennsylvania
Since joining Guardian Protection in 2012, April Maloney has helped to transform the quality of Guardian’s sales volume by focusing on profitability aspects that support Guardian’s mission of growth and perpetuity.
She began her career at Guardian as Accounting Manager and in 2014 took on the role of Manager of Dealer Operations and in 2019 was promoted to the role of Director – Sales Operations with responsibility for Dealer, Inside Sales, and the newly created Guardian Sales Operations Team. In 2020, April was appointed to the position of Vice President – Dealer and Inside Sales and shortly after, assumed leadership of the Residential Field Sales team. In June 2021, the Builder sales division was added to her responsibilities and she was appointed to Vice President of Sales. Prior to joining Guardian, April worked at Crown Castle, the nation’s largest provider of communications infrastructure.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance from Buffalo State University. April and her husband AJ, reside in Mars, Pennsylvania with their two children, Sarah 16 and Jack 13.
Randall Renfroe – Integrator Director
President /CEO – Allstate Security Industries, Inc., Amarillo, Texas.
Renfroe has had a distinguished career with ASI, starting in 2007 as a Uniform Division Security Officer and Patrol Officer for the first two years. He demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and was soon promoted to a position at the monitoring station manager in 2009. Renfroe played a crucial role in the remodeling of the ARC and reorganizing of the department which helped to improve the overall operations of the organization. He then moved into procurement, where he implemented significant changes and improvements, and subsequently transitioned to the technical division. Renfroe progressed through the ranks in the technical division, starting as a technician and eventually becoming the service/installation manager. His exceptional performance and leadership skills led to his promotions to COO/VP, and ultimately to the position of President.
Dean Belisle – Associate Director
National Sales Trainer – DMP – Digital Monitoring Products, Springfield, Missouri
Dean has been active in the electronic Security & Fire Alarm Industry for over 40 years. He started early as a technician and then co‐founded his own successful security and life safety business. He has extensive experience in front‐line sales, sales training, program development and he has a unique ability to custom‐fit solutions to your specific needs.
He is recognized by many as an expert in the electronic Security & Fire Alarm Industry. He has been often quoted in the press and has been featured on the cover of SDM magazine. He has consulted with legislators on the state and federal level, Michigan State Police, the Governor’s Office, Michigan Association of Chief’s of Police and the Detroit Police Department. Dean has also served the industry as President of the Burglar & Fire Alarm Association of Michigan; a position he held for a total of 20 years.
Throughout his professional career, Dean has mentored, trained and spoken to thousands of the security industry’s best and brightest – sharing his insight and experience in the areas of sales, marketing, RMR creation and growth. He considers these efforts to be one of his professional life’s best achievements to date.
Jason Lutz – Associate Director (Incumbent)
Director Brand Ambassador Program, Industry Affairs Leader – Resideo, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Jason has served on the Board of Directors since 2018.
Jason’s security industry career began over twenty-five years ago as a sales rep for a national company in Houston, TX. Through a twist of faith, he moved to his current home of Middle TN where he spent the next decade in Security Company ownership. During that time, he was a member of both the ESA and TNESA and received multiple levels of NTS Certification. In 2002, he joined the ranks of manufacturing as a District Manager for the Mid-West region of Resideo and since that time has moved up to his current role as Director of the Brand Ambassador Program. Throughout his career with Resideo he has always been active in the associations and sat on multiple industry boards.
Jason resides in Thompsons Station, TN with his wife and family.
Joseph Monachino – Associate Director
Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer– Alarm Connections, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Co-founded Alarm Connections (Formerly Alarm Funding Associates) in 2005.
Responsible for the Relationship Management Team, Regional Business Development and Marketing.
35+ year industry executive with Alarmguard and SecurityLink
Alarm Connections is dedicated to the success of local alarm companies across the country because we believe that local professionals provide the best customer experience.
We support our local partners and prospective partners with unique financing and capital alternatives that provides a path to pull equity out of their business while maintaining their independence and every relationship with their customers. Our partners get to keep their name and continue to build off their reputation and expertise.
Alex Nitterhouse – Associate Director
Partner – Egan Security Group, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Alex Nitterhouse is a Partner of Egan Security Group currently living in Sacramento, CA with an objective to help companies understand and realize their value and direction. With 15+ years of experience in the Electronic Security and Life Safety Industry, Alex has contributed to building some of the most profitable, high growth, high recurring revenue sales teams in the industry. His work experience includes sales, operations, talent acquisition, training and development and vendor management for some of the industry’s finest organizations and continues to be a member of the Electronic Security Association (ESA).
Alex has held several positions in our industry and served as the Director of Sales for one of the largest independently owned security providers in the nation and participated in more than 20 acquisitions. Alex’s strength is that he has been in the field for years, which allows him to have a unique perspective. He understands the challenges that security and alarm dealers are facing and knows first-hand the measures needed to be taken to transform your organization. It’s about understanding your clients’ needs and finding a solution.
Watch the Associate Director Candidates interview here:
In this episode, we sit down with Kirk MacDowell, Dean Belisle, Jason Lutz, Joe Monachino, and Alex Nitterhouse to discuss the contested election for the Associate Director position on ESA’s Board of Directors election. From there, Kirk interviews each candidate about their background in the industry and what they would bring to the table if elected.
Watch the Integrator Director Candidates interview here:
In this episode, we sit down with Kirk MacDowell, Melissa Brinkman, Brendan Armstrong, Jeremy Bates, April Maloney, Randall Renfroe to discuss the contested election for the Integrator Director position on ESA’s Board of Directors election. From there, Kirk interviews each candidate about their background in the industry and what they would bring to the table if elected.
