Meet Michael Verden of The Lake Forest Group

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Verden.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was born in Tipperary, Ireland to a single mother and placed in an orphanage, the Sean Ross Abbey. At the age of two, I migrated to the United States and lived in the Angel Guardian orphanage in Rogers Park. I was adopted at age four and grew up in Humbolt Park on the west side of Chicago. At age 10, our family moved to Edison Park and I attended St. Juliana Grammar School, Taft High School and Western Illinois University. I also have a Masters of Science Degree in Criminology from Indiana State. University.

After graduating from college, I served as a police officer with the Skokie Police Department for two years and then the United States Secret Service Agent for 21 years. After retiring from federal law enforcement, I became the Director of Security for the National Basketball Association in New York City. Our family eventually returned to the Chicago area and moved to Lake Forest, where I founded The Lake Forest Group, a strategic security consultancy firm.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Being an orphan and then an adopted child, made me uncomfortable in my youth because as a young person you just want to fit in and not be different. As I grew up, my background and upbringing taught me that nothing is given to you and that if you really want something, you need to earn it. In the orphanage, if you wanted to play with a toy, you usually had to fight with another kid. That small life lesson has served me well over the years and instilled in me a belief that “anything worth having is worth fighting for”.

As a Secret Service Agent, I proactively pursued specialized training to earn unique assignments. I was a member of the Counter Assault Team (CAT), which is a tactical force responsible for repelling coordinated attacks against the President of the United States. I earned this assignment after testing and passing seven weeks of specialized training that includes counter-ambush tactics and close quarters combat.

Applications for the team are competitive and physical requirements for entry include twenty pull-ups wearing a 45-pound weighted vest and a 1.5-mile run in under nine minutes. Ultimately, only ten percent of applicants are selected. I was also a U.S. Secret Service Rescue Swimmer, a program designed to perform a variety of rescue and emergency medical skills in the open water, including the ocean.

After passing another competitive training school with a small percentage of successful applicants, I was awarded the Rescue Swimmer designation and assigned to protective missions involving Presidential water activities. These experiences tested my mental and physical fortitude and proved that I had what it takes to succeed in my professional life.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Lake Forest Group – what should we know?
The Lake Forest Group is a strategic security consulting firm that partners with public and private sector firms to ensure safety for their people and assets. By dedicating ourselves to solving security challenges, we offer customized solutions for risk management, emergency preparedness, program and policy development, executive protection assessment and design, private investigations, event security, and strategic alliances with a worldwide network of law enforcement and security professionals.

With clients specializing in various industries including medical marijuana, commercial real estate, finance, and insurance and others looking for answers in corporate, residential, and school security, our solutions fit within budgets with minimal disruption to business operations. Following a business model that focuses on service to our clients, we offer an objective and independent voice, best practices in safety and security, and an assessment of how to improve your security posture.

In this ever-changing environment, we serve as a trusted advisor while continuously interacting with subject matter experts who are leaders in their field to bring results through workplace violence mitigation, active threat plans, security assessments, and business continuity—or whatever challenge our clients are currently facing.

With unrivaled experience in the security industry, The Lake Forest Group offers insight acquired through decades of engagements by providing protective security for the private sector, such as Fortune 500 corporations, retail, healthcare, hotels, resorts, casinos, and gaming and the public sector, such as government buildings, K-12 schools, higher education institutions, and hospitals.

We’ve also assessed emergency preparedness and event security for venues and stadiums in professional golf, horse racing, soccer, Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Basketball Association (NBA). By leveraging our established liaisons with high-level law enforcement and international counterparts in both the public and private sector, The Lake Forest Group offers a security protection plan to keep our clients safe, secure, and compliant.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
My parents, George and Reva Verden deserve credit for raising me in a loving, encouraging, and supportive environment. My coaches for all the sports I played as a youth also deserve credit because in athletics it doesn’t matter who you know, but it does matter how hard you work at your goals.

Also, my colleagues from my career in the Secret Service allowed competing against the best of the best. They say that you play to the level of your competition and the bar was raised to a very high-level thanks to the men and women I had the honor to serve with during my days as a Federal law enforcement officer. In the private sector, my Director of Communications for The Lake Forest Group deserves a tremendous amount of credit for the success or our company.

Ms. Wallace is a graduate of Indiana University with a double major in English and Spanish. She dedicates herself to providing quality marketing communications services to a variety of our clients, ranging from editing and proofreading reports, marketing collateral, web content, and marketing research. She is definitely the brains (and I’m the brawn) behind our operations and pushes me on a daily basis to perform as an industry thought leader.

Also, my spouse and two sons have stood by me and accepted the difficulties of having to move from one state to another and leaving their friends and family behind. Fortunately, we were finally able to settle in the Chicago area and have no immediate plans to relocate.

Contact Info:

• Address: 736 N. Western Avenue, Suite 202 Lake Forest, IL 60045
• Website: http://lakeforestgroup.com/
• Phone: 312.515.8747
• Email: gmv@lakeforestgroup.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lakeforestgroup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MikeVerden
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmichaelverden/

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