Homeland security a thriving business

By Tammy Joyner
Cox News Service

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Demorest, Ga. — The screen saver on Kim Harrison's computer is startling and raw. It is a moment-by-moment account, in pictures, of the carnage that unfolded throughout the day on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Twin Towers engulfed in flames. Stunned onlookers. The smoldering Pentagon. The scorched Pennsylvania farm field.

"When you see that on a daily basis, you don't forget what people are capable of'" Harrison's co-worker Amanda Gano said.

The pair have another good reason to keep that day uppermost in their minds: Their jobs are a direct result of Sept. 11.

Harrison and Gano run 600 to 800 criminal background checks a day for U.S. businesses looking to root out the bad element among job seekers. The service is a thriving side business for the Demorest, Ga., Police Department.

Far to the south, Savannah State University became the first college in Georgia - and the nation's only historically black college - to offer a four-year undergraduate degree in homeland security this fall.

"Given our society since Sept. 11, obviously there's a growing need for trained professionals in this industry'" school spokeswoman Loretta Heyward said.

Six years after terrorists cut deep into America's emotional and economic epicenter, Sept. 11 is creating jobs, businesses, services, college curricula and other opportunities.

States have homeland security offices. Companies have beefed up internal security and supply chains, and fortified their facilities to protect against manmade or natural disasters. There's a push for people with language and security skills. Law firms are running thriving homeland security practices.

Worldwide, homeland security is expected to grow from a $40 billion-a-year industry in 2004 to nearly $180 billion by 2015, according to Homeland Security Research Corp. In the United States, 85 percent of the nation's critical infrastructure ' water and food supply, chemical plants, utilities and the like - are under private control. More than a third of U.S. companies plan to invest in and expand security programs.

A law firm in Atlanta set up a homeland security practice shortly after Sept. 11, 2001. McKenna Long & Aldridge represents dozens of companies that make everything from security cameras to counterterrorism technology to software that lets emergency responders keep track of their vehicles.

"Atlanta is a major player, as strong as any other part of the country'" said Jason Klitenic, a partner at the firm.

"It's a strong breeding ground for security firms. We have the world's busiest airport. So that's going to lend itself to companies that are focused on security, airport and cargo screening'" he said.

"You have a city that's a financial capital of the South. We have major universities that are critical in the area of R&D (research and development).'

Georgia Tech, for example, added a homeland security director to its campus police department, a key job because of the university's various research, some of which includes projects related to homeland security.

The school has hosted an annual business plan competition for seven years. In the beginning, during the tech boom, the hot area for students in the contest was the Internet. That's changed.

"We're beginning to see more homeland-security-related plans coming out of the competitions'" said Alan Flury, co-director of the Georgia Tech Business Plan Competition. 'About 30 percent of the student teams had some application or focus on homeland security.'

Michigan businessman Luke Pinkerton's team won the contest several years ago with a product he's now marketing in the homeland security arena.

Pinkerton owns Polytorx, a 3-year-old company in Ann Arbor, Mich., that he says is a 'direct result of 9/11' and Georgia Tech's competition.

The company makes toothpick-sized metal fibers used in blast-resistant concrete and other products.

The technology, known as Helix, was developed originally by Pinkerton's professors when he was at the University of Michigan. It reinforces concrete to resist blasts and earthquakes and is used in many homes.

It found new uses after the 2001 attacks. It's part of fortification barriers around nuclear plants and in concrete sheets that resist improvised explosive devices.