🔒United Security opens Hartford office as CT growth accelerates

United Security Inc., a New Jersey-based security services firm with a growing Connecticut presence and about 1,800 employees nationwide, has opened a downtown Hartford office, adding to its existing Fairfield location. The 33-year-old company, which generates nearly $100 million in annual revenue, is leasing a 1,500-square-foot office in the Stark Building, positioning the firm near existing and potential clients, including corporate headquarters, commercial office buildings and state government offices. “We’re able to walk to potential prospects that we’re meeting with and to contacts around the area as well,” said Justin Consoli, the company’s corporate strategy and operations manager. He operates out of United Security’s Hartford, Fairfield and Boston offices. The move comes as office landlords in Hartford and other cities grapple with elevated vacancy rates tied to the post-pandemic shift toward remote work. United Security, however, said it sees opportunity in that environment. In addition to traditional manned guarding, the company provides technology-based security services, including remote building monitoring, which Consoli said can reduce the need for around-the-clock on-site staffing and lower costs for property owners. Around the time United Security opened its Hartford office, the firm secured a contract to provide security for Constitution Plaza, according to Matt Lofaro, United Security’s regional director of operations for the Mid-Atlantic and New England. United Security estimates there is about $30 million in annual manned security work in downtown Hartford, excluding electronic surveillance and cybersecurity services, making the city an attractive market, Lofaro said.

Growth strategy

United Security was founded in 1992 by Christine Gelatt — now the company’s chief financial officer and chairman — along with three retired New York City police officers, using a $17,000 startup budget. “None of us took paychecks probably until the beginning of the third year,” Gelatt recalled. At the time, she relied on her husband as the family’s primary breadwinner. During its first 13 years, the company built a client base heavily weighted toward government security contracts. In 2005, as Gelatt’s original partners prepared to retire, an insurance broker connected her with Frank Consoli II and George Guilfoy, executives at a much larger security firm who were looking to start their own company. The two later bought out Gelatt’s partners. At the time Consoli and Guilfoy came on board, United Security employed about 400 people, generated about $3.5 million in annual revenue and was headquartered in Staten Island. Frank Consoli — who is based in the Fairfield office and is Justin Consoli’s father — pushed the firm to expand into commercial real estate security work, and the business “blew up from there,” Gelatt said. “We’re going to be exceeding $100 million (in revenue) next year,” Frank Consoli said. “So, it’s a story of entrepreneurship, grinding it out, family and career-oriented professionals. … We are in the top 30 companies out of 8,000 security firms.” United Security’s Connecticut business has also expanded quickly, growing from 184 employees and about $7 million in in-state revenue in 2019, to 513 employees and roughly $20 million in 2025. The company projects about 10% annual growth in Connecticut-based revenue over the next several years, a factor behind its decision to open a Hartford office, Justin Consoli said.

Private-sector opportunity

Frank Consoli, who earned a criminal justice degree from New Hampshire’s St. Anselm College in 1992, began his career working overnight shifts at a small White Plains, New York, security firm, making $19,000 a year and traveling across New York City and Westchester County to check guard posts and fill in as needed. Over time, Consoli rose through the ranks, moving from small, family-owned firms to a leadership role at one of the world’s largest security companies. By age 30, he was a vice president and general manager overseeing Connecticut, New Jersey and Westchester County, with 5,000 employees reporting to him. Consoli said he and Guilfoy, who worked with him previously, wanted to run their own company and move away from corporate boardrooms and mergers. “We got tired of lawyers and spending time behind closed doors,” Consoli said. “We missed being out in the field, where we could value people.”

At United Security, Consoli and Guilfoy, who is now retired, shifted the company’s focus toward private-sector security work, while continuing to pursue government contracts. “We put together a marketing plan that was going to attack the private sector and grow our government sector at the same time,” Consoli said. “Christine had a great company that she started, which was focused on government services. So, it’s the highest level of security protection, probably at any detail you could do.”

Industry shifts and technology

The security services industry has experienced significant consolidation over the past 15 years, driven by private equity investment. The trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, as larger firms acquired struggling competitors, according to a 2022 report by market research firm Freedonia. The report projected global security services revenue would rise 4.4% to $295 billion in 2026, citing social changes and increased demand for technology-based services. United Security, company officials said, has positioned itself toward clients that prefer working with midsize providers rather than large, private-equity-backed firms. Much of its growth has come from referrals and existing clients expanding the scope of their security services. Licensed in 23 states across the East Coast, Midwest and Texas, the company has expanded its technology offerings over the past decade to include access control systems, camera networks and emergency call boxes, in addition to traditional guard services. “We knew 10 years ago that was the future of our business and that we had to get in that space to help our existing clients and give them direction when they are looking for a full program,” Frank Consoli said. Last year, United Security launched a partnership with cybersecurity firm Citanex that allows it to offer bundled physical and cyber protection to commercial clients and even residential customers. Government contracts remain a significant part of the company’s business. About 30% of United Security’s revenue comes from work with the U.S. Marshals Service and Federal Bureau of Prisons, which uses the firm to transport prisoners to medical appointments, flights and other destinations, company officials said. United Security also provides armed and unarmed guards at state-owned facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. In Connecticut, that includes security services at Department of Motor Vehicles locations, state hospitals, transportation hubs and other infrastructure sites.

Executive security demand

An emerging area of business for United Security has been executive protection, following heightened security concerns among corporate leaders after the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Previously, the company provided executive protection primarily for special events involving existing clients, Frank Consoli said. Since then, demand has expanded to include workplace, residential and travel-related security for corporate executives. In response, United Security has partnered with other firms to provide coverage in states where it is not licensed and, in July, hired Rory Moran, a former U.S. Secret Service special agent, as director of executive protection and threat analysis. The company has also seen increased demand for protecting elected federal officials, which Consoli said reflects both heightened security concerns and increased federal spending on legislator security. “We used to do very little of it, and we’ll be doing millions of dollars of it annually, probably, over the next several years,” Consoli said.