Member News

August 12, 2016

The idea for Cypress Security came to CEO and founder Kes Narbutas when he was working in real estate development and was hired to manage Yerba Buena Gardens for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency. After failing to find a security company that met his needs, he decided to start his own company. Over the last 20 years, Cypress has grown to 1,400 employees, with clients that include the SFMOMA, the SFMTA and the City of Oakland.

The company provides security services for clients, including officers and vehicle patrol. With 10 field offices that span the length of the West Coast — and plans to open another one soon — Cypress is set to continue its focus on customer service.

How’s business? We’re growing at the fastest pace in our 20-year history and our management team is primed for more. There are a lot of opportunities in the security world for continued growth caused in part by continued consolidation among our competitors. But our growth comes from not only the fallout from consolidation, but from new construction, new vertical markets and new expansion into geographical areas.

How does industry consolidation affect your business strategy? There is one national player acquiring three other large national players, which will make it the largest security company in the U.S., but it also removes a lot of competition from the market. A lot of customers want to see some choices out there. So it puts us in a more competitive position and helps us stand out. We’re the largest regional security firm on the West Coast and so we’re small enough to provide the extra service and attention that our clients desire, but large enough to have all the quality and systems in place to compete.

What experience do you bring from real estate that helps you run Cypress? One is an appreciation for flexibility. It is not a one-size-fits-all business and so we work with each client in finding the right officer, the right fit, the right uniform, the right approach that supports their business. For me, that’s key as a user. The other is customer service, but that goes hand-in-hand with the flexibility.

What is the current toughest challenge facing the business right now? Finding good employees and getting them through the state’s licensing requirements. You can take on a job and find some good candidates, but they can’t begin to work until they’ve cleared the state’s process, which can take up to six months. We’re quite happy to see the increased living wage and benefits that have been mandated in the markets that we serve. We’ve always believed people need a decent living wage and healthcare and mandating it just evens the playing field for responsible companies like ours.

What’s been your biggest lesson in running the company? It became very clear to me that the way to make this business successful and to distinguish it is really on our people. Our product is people. What we do is to provide a labor force to provide security services. And if we don’t really focus on the officer out in the field and how difficult their job can be sometimes, then we’re not going to be able to deliver quality service to our clients.

What strategies do you have to respond to issues on an officer level? One is creating a culture within the company. I can’t talk to 1,400 officers obviously, and no single person can. For instance, we don’t call my office the corporate office, we call it the support center because we want all the field offices to understand we are there to support them. It has to be something that translates across the entire organization. But clearly recognition programs, where we recognize when you’ve made the effort for additional training and things like that because I tend to believe that people take pride in their work. We work with that starting principle.

The Narbutas File

Company: Cypress Security

Headquarters: San Francisco

What it does: Provides security services to clients

2016 projected revenue: $41 million

2015 revenue: $29.9 million

2014 revenue: $26 million

Founded: 1996

Employees: 1,400

Clients: SFMOMA, SFMTA, City of Oakland