Valiant, a provider of comprehensive workforce management solutions delivered on a hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) platform, drew nearly 75 owners and senior management from large national and regional contract security firms serving the commercial and government sectors to an April 20th program on emerging federal market trends, legislative and regulatory activities impacting contract security and compliance.

“It is important to provide a forum for contract security owners and senior management to network and share information,” said Valiant CEO Anthony Petraco, “The Valiant Professional Development Series allows interactive, small group discussions with thought-leaders on a variety of issues that directly impact private security operations, particularly compliance related to payroll, time & attendance and scheduling.”

“Federal regulators and organized labor have the guard industry in their cross-hairs,” said Steve Amitay, President, Amitay Consulting and Legislative Counsel to the National Association of Security Companies (NASCO) and ASIS International. Amitay discussed federal government initiatives with potential significant impact on the guard industry including:

•           Insourcing at the Federal Protective Service (FPS) and other departments/agencies that could impact 20,000+ contracted security positions

•           Recent union initiatives and appointments to the National Labor Relations Board

•           New security officer standards and the upcoming elections

Amitay’s perspective regarding “targeting guard companies” was reinforced by former Deputy Administrator for the U.S. Department of Labor Wage & Hour Division Alex Passantino who currently works with firms across the country on wage & hour compliance as Counsel with Seyfarth Shaw. Passantino discussed significantly “increase resources” for investigations and enforcement of wage & hour issues and highlighted specific violations such as meal breaks and overtime.

Jim Rogers, Vice President Market Management for Government Contracting for Deltek reviewed research – Clarity ’09 - into business development and contracting with the government market, including best practices, business development and financial practices.