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About Apex

Built on Purpose, Driven by Mission.

Apex was started because a better option didn’t exist, and because Zack had seen the problem from every angle.

Our Story

After 15 years in law enforcement, he had responded to enough incidents at facilities with security guards on site to know the guards weren’t the problem. The model was. Then 4 years working with a security technology integrator showed him the same dysfunction from another direction: cameras and access control installed without any real strategy, and clients who had no idea whether their investment was actually making them safer.

Fifteen years of law enforcement. Four years in security technology. Two industries. The same broken pattern everywhere he looked. So he built something different: a company that takes the human side of security seriously, treats every client as a real partner, and holds itself accountable to a standard the industry has never bothered to set.

ZB
Zack BurgessFounder & Chief Executive Officer
Chapter 01

Built the Foundation

Established our first client relationships across Michigan and proved the model works. Formalized our training programs: active shooter response, de-escalation, and custom corporate safety curricula, making professional safety training available to organizations of all sizes.

Chapter 02

Grew the Right Way

Expanded our service portfolio and client base across Michigan, deliberately, without sacrificing the standard that defines us. Built statewide coverage and the capability to follow multi-location clients wherever they operate.

Chapter 03 · 2025–2026

Built the Team

The most significant inflection point in Apex’s growth. Joel Case joined as Chief Operating Officer to lead day-to-day operations. Brent Bergey came on as Enterprise Account Executive, and Ryan Strunk as Business Development Representative. The infrastructure is now in place to compete at any level, without compromising the standard we were built on.

Our Purpose

Has your security company ever exceeded your expectations?

Or have you just learned to expect less?

Apex Protection Solutions was established with one clear mission: to rebuild a broken security industry, one client, one officer, and one standard of excellence at a time.

For too long, security companies have operated like staffing agencies. Fill the shift. Collect the contract. Large companies grew comfortable striving for mediocre, and called it industry standard.

Officers were undertrained, undervalued, and interchangeable. Clients got a rotating door of unfamiliar faces. Nobody learned your facility. Nobody owned your safety. We looked at that and decided it wasn’t good enough.

The Industry Standard
  • Fill the shift, whoever’s available
  • High turnover, continuity is never a priority
  • Unprofessional appearance, conduct, and attitude
  • Reactive by nature, poor communication and unprofessional conduct go unaddressed until something goes wrong
  • No supervision structure, nobody checking in, nobody accountable
  • A vendor relationship, not a security partnership
The Apex Standard
  • We protect your brand image
  • The right officer matched to your environment, your culture, and your expectations
  • Ongoing training built into your security program, not a checkbox we skip
  • Customized security plan for every client
  • Officers who integrate with your team, your people, and your daily operations
  • Consistent client-supervisor interaction, proactive communication, clear accountability, and issues resolved before they become problems

Sound Familiar?

What clients tell us they’ve already experienced.

These aren’t worst-case scenarios. They’re the everyday reality for organizations across Michigan who accepted the industry standard and never questioned it.

  • Guards found sleeping on the job, sometimes regularly
  • Officers showing up late, or not showing up at all
  • Unkempt uniforms, poor appearance, and unprofessional conduct
  • Officers on their phones, disengaged, and clearly not present
  • Offensive language or inappropriate interactions with staff and visitors
  • Inability to communicate clearly or handle basic interactions professionally
  • Officers who don’t know the facility, the staff, or what to do in an emergency
  • No accountability, complaints go nowhere and nothing changes
  • A new face every week, high turnover means nobody ever learns your site
None of this is acceptable. And none of it happens at Apex.

Why This Matters

Your security partner is a reflection of your organization.

The officers on your property are often the first face employees, clients, and visitors encounter. An unprepared, unprofessional officer doesn’t just create a security gap. It reflects on your brand, your culture, and your leadership.

At Apex, we recruit for character, train thoroughly, and deploy officers you’d be proud to have standing at your front door. When an Apex officer is on your property, that reflects something, and that something is excellence.

Our Philosophy

We Don’t Do Mediocre.

The security industry became dominated by companies whose success metric was volume: how many contracts, how many shifts, how many bodies deployed. Quality became secondary to quantity.

The result? Massive turnover rates, undertrained officers, clients who don’t know who’s showing up for their shift, and an industry with a reputation for being the bare minimum.

We’re a smaller company, and that’s by design. It means we move faster, hold higher standards, and give every client the attention the large companies simply can’t. We have the capability to compete with anyone in this industry. The difference is we choose to do it the right way.

What Sets Us Apart

Partnering to find the right solution

We partner with you to build the right solution, learning your environment, your culture, and your goals before we ever make a recommendation. Nothing gets implemented without your input.

Training is never an afterthought

Our officers receive ongoing training in de-escalation, situational awareness, and professional conduct. De-escalation is at the core of everything we do: a prepared officer resolves situations before they ever become incidents.

Officers who represent your brand

Professional appearance, strong judgment, calm under pressure, and effective communicators. We select and train officers you’d be proud to have as the face of your organization, because first impressions matter.

Real accountability, real people

Every client has a dedicated point of contact for every site and a supervision structure that ensures nothing falls through the cracks. You always know who to call, and we’re already working on it before you do.

Statewide reach, personal service

Michigan statewide coverage with the ability to follow multi-location clients anywhere, while maintaining the personal standards of a local partner.

Core Values

The Standard We Hold, Every Shift.

01

Professionalism

We show up prepared, polished, and accountable, every shift, every interaction.

02

Team Player

We win together; no officer, supervisor, or rep succeeds alone.

03

Strong Work Ethic

We outwork the competition by doing the unglamorous things consistently well.

04

Integrity

We do what we say, report what happened, and own our mistakes.

05

Customer First

Every decision is filtered through one question: does this serve our client?

The Team

The People Behind the Standard.

Apex is built on the belief that the people in an organization define it. Every member of our team was chosen because they share the same commitment to doing this right, for our clients and for our officers.

ZB

Zack Burgess

Founder & CEO

Founded Apex in 2021 after 15 years in law enforcement and 4 years with a security technology integrator. Through both careers he kept seeing the same problem from different angles: security programs that looked good on paper but failed in practice. He founded Apex because someone needed to build something fundamentally different.

JC

Joel Case

Chief Operating Officer

Joel oversees the day-to-day operations that make Apex’s standard of excellence a reality. From officer deployment and scheduling to quality assurance, he ensures that what we promise clients is what they experience, every shift, every site.

BB

Brent Bergey

Enterprise Account Executive

Brent works with Michigan’s corporate and enterprise-level organizations to build security partnerships that actually fit. He brings a consultative approach to every conversation, focused on understanding your needs before recommending a solution.

RS

Ryan Strunk

Business Development Representative

Ryan is often the first Apex voice a new client hears, and he sets the tone for everything that follows. His focus is building relationships with organizations across Michigan who deserve a better security experience than what they’ve had.

Join the Team

We Hire People, Not Bodies.

Every Apex officer is selected for character, work ethic, and commitment to doing the job right. If you’re tired of companies that treat you like a number, and you want to be part of something that’s actively changing this industry, we want to hear from you.

Michigan statewide, with multi-state deployment for clients who need us to follow them.

View open positions

Real Training

You’ll be prepared before you’re deployed, not the other way around.

Leadership Access

Direct connection to Apex leadership. You are not a number here.

High Standards

We hold the bar high and support you in reaching it every day.

Growth Potential

We’re growing. The right people grow with us.

A Mission Worth Showing Up For

We’re rebuilding the security industry. Every officer on our team is part of making that real.