Green Tech: Kim Hartman of Surveillance Secure On How Their Technology Will Make An Important Positive Impact On The Environment
An Interview With Jilea Hemmings
Within Surveillance Secure, we are looking for ways to lower the overall energy usage for our services and products that ultimately benefit our environment. For example, this past year, we had a client who sent out three building engineers to turn the lights on and off in their building every day. We were able to install a system where they could access their lights remotely and this lowered their energy usage significantly, along with eliminating driving back and forth to do this. Not only do we find ways to create less energy, but we actually create energy where there is no energy. We install solar planes for construction sites to provide the trailers with signals.
In recent years, Big Tech has gotten a bad rep. But of course many tech companies are doing important work making monumental positive changes to society, health, and the environment. To highlight these, we started a new interview series about “Technology Making An Important Positive Social Impact”. We are interviewing leaders of tech companies who are creating or have created a tech product that is helping to make a positive change in people’s lives or the environment. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kim Hartman.
Kim Hartman is the CEO and founder of Surveillance Secure, a commercial security integration franchise concept that consults, designs, installs and supports a full range of enterprise grade security technology for commercial clients. Leveraging extensive current technical business and enterprise experience, Hartman assists companies maximize resources for next-level expansion within the technology or security sectors.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive in, our readers would love to learn a bit more about you. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory and how you grew up?
Absolutely! I was born in Germany and lived in Holland and London before moving to the United States when I was fourteen years old. I am a graduate of Strayer University for computer science. I also attended the University of Maryland Global Campus, where I received a Master’s of Science. I am a father of a 12-year-old son and a 15-year-old daughter, and they are the main reason I started looking into green tech, especially for their generation. For almost five years, my daughter has been telling me to buy a Tesla and transition to an electric car to help the environment. I have not made that switch yet but plan on doing it in the future.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Surveillance Secure was a home-based business about four years ago, and now we’re in the franchising space. When COVID happened, I stood in front of all my employees who were worried about what was happening, and I told them this would be a good thing for our business. I did not fire anyone and actually hire more people because we are an essential business. We had a day labor employee purchase a brand new car, and another employee bought a new house during this time. The growth is coming as our services will continue to increase in the following years to come.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I worked in commercial leasing at Cassidy Turley on Pennsylvania Ave and had a fantastic boss in my twenties. He was there every day at 6 am and left around 6 pm. I never really knew what office business ethic was because my previous work experience was in restaurants and my dad’s company, where I was viewed as “dad’s child.” My boss at Cassidy Turley really showed me what working in an office setting was.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about the tech tools that you are helping to create that can make a positive impact on the planet and the environment. To begin, which particular problems are you aiming to solve?
The main problem I am looking to solve is cutting down our energy usage.
How do you think your technology can address this?
Within Surveillance Secure, we are looking for ways to lower the overall energy usage for our services and products that ultimately benefit our environment. For example, this past year, we had a client who sent out three building engineers to turn the lights on and off in their building every day. We were able to install a system where they could access their lights remotely and this lowered their energy usage significantly, along with eliminating driving back and forth to do this. Not only do we find ways to create less energy, but we actually create energy where there is no energy. We install solar planes for construction sites to provide the trailers with signals.
Can you tell us the backstory about what inspired you to originally feel passionate about this cause?
My kids are the main reason I feel passionate about this because they are our next generation, and I want to create a better planet for them.
How do you think this might change the world?
Power is king! Recently on vacation, I saw islands using windmills to create their power, and I believe this practice will expand everywhere soon as I have already been receiving green tech upgrade inquiries from our clients.
If you could tell young people one thing about why they should consider making a positive impact on our environment or society, like you, what would you tell them?
I did not grow up with social media and had no one teaching me about the effects we were having on our environment. My dad smoked as it was the norm, and I thought it was cool. Today kids can do their own research and see what’s out there by looking on Google, Instagram, and even TikTok! The market for green tech will explode in the next ten years; I mean, look at what the iPhone has done! There is a benefit for everyone when it comes to clean and green energy.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
You can keep up with all things Surveillance Secure on our social media platforms.
Website: https://surveillancesecure.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRpX0mCM-tS80lqpqLDVI_A/videos
Twitter: https://twitter.com/surveillanceDMV
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/surveillance-secure/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success in your important work.
