FAST is Committed to Workforce Development. How About You?

By Merlin Guilbeau  

Labor shortage, retiring out of the trades, need for apprenticeships, future workforce… we’re hearing these buzz words a lot these days, from our members.  

Created in 2020 through a partnership of the Electronic Security Association (ESA) and the Security Industry Association (SIA) – the industry’s leading associations – the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST) connects passionate, innovative professionals with new opportunities in the electronic security and life safety industry.  

Since its inception ESA and SIA have committed staff resources and funds to tackle workforce development, an issue that affects every segment of our industry. Recently we raised the bar by committing to fund the first full-time Executive Director for the foundation.  

Aiden O’Brien will lead FAST’s efforts to promote an innovative and essential industry to the next generation of security and life safety leaders. 

Aiden is an experienced association and government affairs professional. In his previous role, he served as director of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) Foundation, with the mission of reducing accident and fatality rates in the tree care industry by improving access to training and technology. He also has a background in government affairs; in his previous role at TCIA as the advocacy and standards manager, he worked to build a grassroots advocacy program for the industry and managed an American National Standards Institute-accredited standards committee. 

Now it’s your turn to commit to workforce development. When you are committed, it shows in the quality of employees you attract and retain. It shows in the quality of work you produce. And it can even show in your relationship with customers.  

You want to be known as a company that values its employees, and that means investing time and money into their training so they can thrive on the job. That way, they’ll feel motivated to stick around—and loyal customers will notice how much better your business is compared to other options out there!  

Being committed to developing your workforce can begin to solve the labor shortage problem. 

There’s one more thing you can do. While Aiden brings a wealth of experience from the organizations, he has worked for in the past that will certainly benefit FAST, he cannot do it alone. Become an advocate and volunteer supporter of FAST and help Aiden’s efforts to address the industry labor shortage.