LANSING, Mich.—No one thought much about anthrax until someone started sending it to people in little white envelopes. But, suddenly, not long after 9/11, national attention was focused on the companies, like Emergent BioSolutions, who deal with biological agents and the security protocols they have in place.

However, all this attention has brought nothing but good things, said Jeff Hauk, director of site risk management and protective operations at Emergent, the only biopharmaceutical company licensed to develop and manufacturer the anthrax vaccine.

DHS “came out to do assessments of our facility and operations,” said Huak, “and that’s when we really started to build up our operations.”

Hauk said the most effective means of getting the attention of management has been through these risk assessments conducted by the DHS and the Department of Defense. “Having those credible third parties come in and support the proposals that we put forth, whether it’s manpower or equipment or whether we’re needing to have a stronger leadership presence of protective services within executive management, all those things I think have contributed to where we are now,” he said.

Building a strong protective security department has been a combination of physical security components and partnerships with law enforcement, said Hauk, who has been with Emergent for nine years. “Our first line of defense is having a closed campus,” he said. “We have 12-and-a-half acres of main campus which is totally enclosed with a multitude of physical security equipment, from fencing to guard rails to intrusion detection systems.” The company also has a proprietary guard force to patrol the premises as well as two canine units that screen all vehicles entering the campus. 

But developing a strong physical security program hasn’t been the sole focus of the department. “The biggest thing is the public/private partnerships that we’ve been able to build over the course of the years,” he said. Working with local fusion centers, for example, regarding intelligence gathering and information dissemination has helped solidify these relationships. One of the most significant benefits has been cross-training drills with law enforcement. “We’ve had the opportunity to educate first responders about what goes on here,” he said. “Obviously they were very concerned because when you say the word ‘anthrax’ that can send shock waves through some people. We overcame that by bringing them in for brown bag sessions, where they toured the facility and sat down with all levels of our company from executives to scientists.” The company has been able to run drills and exercises with law enforcement so “they know what to expect from us and we know what to expect from them” in the event of an emergency. 

As far as obtaining the resources necessary to strengthen the security protective department, Hauk said it hasn’t been easy. “I’ve gone the gamut on getting the buy-in from executive management,” he said. The solution he said is “educating them on the ROI of protective services department and what services the department can bring to the company,” he said. He recommends that security practitioners seek independent assessments of their security program to validate their needs to executive management. Also, he said, it is important to find alliances within the company and not to give up approaching management for more resources. “Find one person and focus on them and sell them and your department and then educate them and help them sell you and find your way in with the C-suite group. That’s been most beneficial for me,” he said.