Business In Vancouver's Top 40 Under 40

Mark Forward doesn't know who nominated him for the Top 40 Under 40.

As GM of Vancouver's fourth-largest security company, Concord Security Corp., Forward thinks it's a great honour, but the best part of his workweeks are the Wednesday afternoons he spends at Canuck Place Children's Hospice.

"It's a good break in the middle of the week.  You can sort of [have] a bad morning and whenever you go there, it puts everthing in perspective," said Forward.

When he's not playing with the kids at Canuck Place, it's back to the security business for Forward, who started at Concord 15 years ago as a guard making $8 an hour.

"I know what it's like to live paycheque to paycheque."

Concord provided him with the ability to get an education and work at the same time.  He believes his experience rising through the ranks at Concord has given him a unique perspective on leadership, and he fosters a belief that employees should feel a sense of "ownership" about the site they guard.

According to Forward, it's working.  Concord has grown 20% each year for the past three years with annual revenue of $25 million, and it no employs 900+ people.  Concord provides security for some of the Lower Mainland's major shopping centres and schools such as Simon Fraser university, but Forward is hoping he'll be able to expand his client contracts to include the Vancvouer olympic Committee and the Vancouver International Airport.\

He attributes his success to an ability to "roll up his sleeves" and get the job done, but he admits he's struggled over the years to balance his professional life with his personal life.

"At the end of the day, you just need enough things outside of work to make you want to go home."