 |
 |
| TOP
GUARD SECURITY AWARDS & RECOGNITION |
Few other security firms in the
region have ever been mentioned in the Daily Press or other regional
journals and periodicals. Top Guard is consistently featured in
many of these. Considered the source for security-related information
in Hampton Roads, below are a series of Daily Press articles about
the company, referencing Top Guard provided information, or depicting
Top Guard security officers at work.
In the Spring of 2002, Economic Link,
produced by the City of Hampton's Economic Development Department,
included an article entitled "Top Guard Security to the Rescue:
A Business Profile On The Security Industry." Top Guard was
also recognized in INSIDE BUSINESS magazine as the second largest
woman-owned business in the Hampton Roads region.
Top Guard's media coverage has not been limited
to print media. When Joe Flanigan, of "Joe's Jobs" on
WVEC Channel 13 News, sought out a security firm with which to serve
as a "Security Officer for the Day", he chose Top Guard.
Despite doing "Joe's Jobs" since 1980 for the station,
his day with Top Guard was the first time he served as a security
officer. The show detailing his experience aired on February 18,
2003. |
| The Bulldog Bulletin |
A periodic publication for the employees of Top Guard Security
The Bulldog Bulletin - Spring 2008
The Bulldog Bulletin - Fall 2008
The Bulldog Bulletin - Fall 2006/Winter 2007
The Bulldog Bulletin - Special Edition
The Bulldog Bulletin - Summer 2007
The Bulldog Bulletin - Fall 2007
|
Click
here for more Top Guard Security certificates, awards, and letters
of recognition.
|
April 2009
For Top Guard Security, the bull dog is not just
a stalwart symbol of the security profession. The company mascot
mirrors the corporate spirit of one of Virginia's largest woman-owned
businesses. "We instill in our employees a family-like atmosphere,
where we hold high expectations, we reward good performance, and
we value and respect everyone's contributions," said Nicole Stuart,
President. "It is this corporate personality that makes up the winning
force of secure professionals at Top Guard."
 Top Guard has been a leader
in e-procurement since eVA’s inception, joining the eVA marketplace
in 2001. In business for 13 years, the company has seen
the benefit of doing business with the Commonwealth electronically.
“eVA is the way we hear about business opportunities,”
explains Chris Stuart. “By serving as a one-stop for state
and local government buyers, eVA gives businesses one source for
information on Commonwealth public sector business opportunities,”
he added.
|
|
In October of 2008 Nicole Stuart, Top Guard President, was awarded as one of the "Top 40 Under 40". Inside Business, the Hampton Roads Business Journal, honored her as one of "Hampton Roads' businesspeople under the age of 40 who have the same quality of commitment to their careers as they do serving the community" ..." the honorees... work day in and day out to help the economy of Hampton Roads as successful businesspeople and also find time to be involved in giving back to their community, making this a better place for all of us." |
|
By: Michael Schwartz - June 2008
Hampton-based Top Guard Security has landed a state contract to provide security to the campuses of Tidewater Community College.
The five-year contract is worth in excess of $13 million, according to Chris Stuart, Top Guard's vice president of business development. Top Guard beat out other bidders on the contract, which entails providing security forces for TCC's four main campuses across Hampton Roads and its Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth and the soon-to-open Regional Automotive Center in Chesapeake's Oakbrooke Business & Technology Center. |
|
|
By: Robert Campbell - Reuters - January 2008
Bolstered by its popularity with celebrities and families, the Bulldog is back on the list of the 10 most popular purebred dogs after a 75-year absence, the American Kennel Club announced on Wednesday.
The Bulldog ranked 10th in the Kennel Club's annual ranking of popular dogs from the 157 different breeds it recognizes.
Topping the list of most popular dogs was the Labrador Retriever -- top dog since 1991 -- followed by the Yorkshire Terrier, the German Shepherd, the Golden Retriever and the Beagle, the Kennel Club said.
The broad-shouldered, stocky Bulldog with its characteristic under-bite and pugnacious gait has long been a mascot of sports teams and military units. |
|
By: Peter Dujardin - Daily Press - July
10, 2007
Not all customers are created equal.
And sometimes, for the good of the company, it's good to turn down some of them -- or even to get rid of some existing ones.
So says Chris Stuart, operations manager at Top Guard Security, a Hampton-based security firm.
With more than 420 security guards -- about double what the company had five years ago -- it's one of the largest security providers in Hampton Roads, serving both sides of the water. With Nicole Stuart, Chris' wife, at the helm as the company president, it's also the largest female-owned business in Hampton Roads, according to Inside Business' 2006 Book of Lists.
|
|
By: Seth Freedland - Daily Press - April 29, 2007
Local British-royalty fans, past and present, wait on pins and needles for a peek of Queen Elizabeth II.
When the queen touches down in Hampton Roads, the giddy factor seems to rise.
She's got old-school worldly respect. She's got new- school celebrity worship.
And this week, seeing British Queen Elizabeth II will be a life highlight for countless local residents.
Perhaps no one demonstrates that thrill more than 19- year-old Valerie Hopkins, one of a handful of College of William and Mary students who have been told they'll share an audience with the queen during her visit to the college Friday.
|
|
|
By: Tina Kim - WAVY TV 10 - October 2006
Police reports say the carjacker
bound the victim, forced her to stay on the floor, and then pulled
out a gun, ultimately taking $1,300 in cash and $4,000 in jewelry.
Odom says, "You really don't have any options at that point."
That's where Bill Weiland's expertise
comes in. A trainer for Top Guard Security, he says the best defense
for shoppers is prevention, and the key to that is always thinking
of your safety as you walk into a parking lot. Weiland says, "If
you're going to come out, come out with a few bags in one hand and
one hand free with your keys in it ready for your car."
|
|
Three successful businesses tell how to put a plan in place
By: Ashley Wilson- Copyright Inside Business January
23, 2006
Drafting a business plan: Most
entrepreneurs will tell you it's one of the scariest parts of planning
a small business. It's also the one step that plenty of small business
startups avoid.
|
|
Local companies go 'above and beyond' for mobilized employees
By: Devon Hubbard Sorlie- Copyright Soundings
January 18, 2006
Paul Bennethum stands at his guard
station at the Jefferson Lab in Newport News. Bennethum, as a staff
sergeant in the National Guard, has experienced great support for
his weekend and annual drilling schedule from his current employer,
Top Guard Security. But that's not always the case for many in the
Guard or the Reserve. Employers Supporting the Guard and Reserve
(ESGR) hopes to help other business in the Hampton Roads area to
offer "above and beyond' what federal law requires of employers,
including benefits to mobilized employees, keeping contact with
them while they're away, and even making up the difference in pay.
|
|
Christopher Stuart 36, General Manager, Top Guard Security
By: David Nowitzky- Copyright Inside Business
October 10, 2005
With Christopher Stuart as its
general manager, Top Guard Security saw an increase from 145 employees
to 400 employees in a year's time. The Hampton-based company provided
uniformed guards for local city, state and federal properties. If
you've been to a museum or university in the Hampton Roads area,
odds are you've run into one of them.
|
|
By: Marguerite Higgins- Copyright The Washington Times September
10, 2005
Security companies generally expect
to have increased business after natural disasters, said Chris Stuart,
general manager for Top Guard Security Inc., a Hampton, Va., security
guard company.
|
|
 Celebrating
Small Businesses on the Peninsula
- View Full Story
By: Ann Malone- Copyright Enterprise July 2005
The Virginia Peninsula Chamber
of Commerce 2005 Small Business Awards Dinner was held on Tuesday,
May 24, 2005 at the Omni Newport News Hotel. Over 150 business personas,
family, and friends attended the event to recognize excellence in
our business community. Prior to the awards dinner, thirteen nominees
were given the opportunity to show case their individual businesses
and accomplishments by setting up display booths around the ballroom.
|
|
By: Michelle Nery- Copyright ODU Alumni Magazine Spring 2005
Like the Incredibles, the family
of superheroes in Pixar's recent animated film, the Stuarts are
a crime-fighting family — only their super-mobile is a Monarch
blue Toyota with the license plate ODU BLU and their sidekick is
a 1-year-old English bulldog name Barney.
Nicole Maust Stuart '92 (M.P.A.
'95) is president of Top Guard Security in Hampton, the largest
privately owned security firm and second largest woman-owned business
in Hampton. Her Husband, Chris Stuart '93 (M.A. '94), serves as
the firm's general manager.
|
|
Nicole Stuart: Top Guard Security
By: Michael Schwartz - Copyright Inside Business
December 13, 2004
The private security industry
is an unconventional setting for a businesswoman. Nicole Stuart,
however, feels right at home as president and owner of Top Guard
Inc., the largest privately owned security firm in Hampton Roads.
|
|
SENIOR BOOM: EMPLOYERS BEGINNING TO COURT RETIRED
WORKERS - View Full Story
As the population ages, Virginia's work force is getting grayer,
too. Some employers see a silver-haired lining.
By: Novelda Sommers- Copyright Chicago Tribune Co. Aug 26, 2004
More senior Virginians like Sandra
McFarland want or need to work, and certain employers are aggressively
looking for them. McFarland got her job because her employer, Top
Guard Security of Hampton, sought workers through AARP, a membership
organization and lobbying group for people older than 50.
McFarland was working 25 hours
a week as an employment specialist for AARP's Norfolk office when
she found out about Chris Stuart's job openings because she was
placing older workers at Top Guard.
|
|
HAMPTON ROADS BRACES FOR WORST - View Full
Story
Security Beefed Up At Bases, Ports Here And Across Country
By: Peter Dujardin - Copyright Chicago Tribune Co. Feb 14, 2003
Companies with sensitive security
concerns declined to talk much about their heightened security efforts.
Security was very high at the Surry nuclear power station, an electric
plant owned by Dominion Resources, according to company spokesman
Rick Zuercher. But he would not comment on what was being done.
Other companies were making sure
their security teams are on alert, said Chris Stuart of Top Guard
Security, a large Hampton security company that is hired by area
firms and federal job sites."They're sending out reminders,
memorandums, things of that sort," Stuart said."They're
making sure that patterns of checking buildings and other things
aren't ignored. When a code system happens, they have to be that
much more on their toes." |
|
WORKPLACES PAY TRIBUTE - View Full Story
Businesses Take Note of Sept. 11
By: Audra Barlow- Copyright Chicago Tribune Co. Sep 9, 2002
Top Guard Security in downtown
Hampton will reflect on the anniversary of the attacks by planting
a tree on its property and by hanging a plaque to remember those
lost. "Immediately after the events of 9/11, our staff gathered
together," says President Nicole Stuart. "On this, the
first anniversary of the attacks, we want to memorialize our nation's
loss and honor the heroism we witnessed in a permanent way. Planting
an evergreen tree, and placing a plaque to observe the solemn occasion,
allows our staff and their families to pay homage in a manner that
will last decades." |
|
SECURITY COMPANY TOP OF THE LINE - View Full
Story
Company Profile
By: Peter Dujardin - Copyright Chicago Tribune Co. Mar 15, 2002
It was last October when thousands
of people were to converge on the Virginia Air & Space Center
in Hampton for a "contestant search" for the Wheel of
Fortune television game show. But four days before the event, the
person organizing the event, Elizabeth Fimian for Channel 13, found
out she didn't have enough security: The Hampton Police Department
wasn't able to provide as many police officers as she once thought.That's
when she called Top Guard Security Inc. of Hampton.The firm -- one
of the biggest security companies on the Peninsula, with 200 guards
deployed a day -- readily agreed to staff the event with nine guards.
And aside from providing a security presence, they did other little
things... |
|
KEEPING HOLIDAYS SECURE - View Full Story
Retail Locations Put People On The Lookout
By: Peter Dujardin - Copyright Chicago Tribune Co. Dec 16, 2000
It's Friday afternoon, and Capt.
Emile Augustin is on patrol. The security guard paces around the
rooftop of the Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News, scoping the parking
lot with binoculars."We can see everything from up here,"
Augustin says, watching car after car pour into the lot near the
new JCPenney. "Like, if I see a lady with a lot of packages
walking by herself to her car, I'll call the mobile unit to go to
that area to make sure she makes it to her car safely."For
the seventh consecutive holiday season, the Patrick Henry Mall security
team has stationed a guard atop the mall from the early afternoon
to the evening, with the guards working in two-hour shifts."It
gets pretty chilly up here at times," says Augustin, who dons
gloves but no hat. "But I think it helps the mall security.
If people see you up here, they'll think twice about doing anything." |
|
AVOID DOG DAZE - View Full Story
Excessive Heat Could Hurt Pooch
By: Regina Clark - Copyright Chicago Tribune Co. Jul 27, 1999
Two weeks ago, Falls responded
to a call about a dog that had been left in a car while the owners
shopped at a mall. Because of the heat, the dog died within 20 minutes."People
don't stop and think that when temperatures are in the 80s and 90s,
it's much hotter in the car," said Capt. Emile Louis Augustine
of Top Guard Security, which monitors Patrick Henry Mall.The mall
security officers often call the SPCA when animals are left in cars,
but that's after paging the owners several times. Last week, the
owners of a poodle notified security that their dog was missing
from their car. But mall security knew exactly where the animal
was. When the owners didn't respond for three hours after security
had paged them, the dog was removed from the car and taken to the
animal shelter.
|
|
|
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
;)
