Blackstone President Dan Swindall Named CEO of the Year by Executive Magazine
Phoenix – Blackstone Security Services, Inc. founding President & CEO Dan Swindall has been selected CEO of the Year for 2014 by C-Level magazine, an executive-oriented publication that targets corporate executives and other top administrators across a variety of industry lines.
Swindall, who qualified for consideration by being selected CEO of the Month for May 2014, is the second CEO of the Year in the magazine’s two-year history. He joins former Phoenix Suns owner and USA Men’s Basketball Chairman Jerry Colangelo, who was C-Level’s inaugural CEO of the Month and its first CEO of the Year.
Swindall was selected from an elite group of candidates that included Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall, Fulton Homes President Doug Fulton, advertising/marketing executive Carrie Martz and former University of Phoenix President William J. Pepicello.
C-Level Magazine is published monthly by Target Market Media Publications LLC.
Swindall said this recognition reflects the quality of his staff and security force. “This is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of good people.” Swindall said. “Everyone from our administrators, managers, supervisors and the people who stand their posts contributed to this and I thank each and every one of them.”
Swindall, who authors a monthly column on corporate security for C-Level, said the magazine has recognized some notable leaders during its two-year run, adding that just being mentioned in the group is a honor. “C-Level caters to a sophisticated corporate readership and has recognized some outstanding leaders in business and education,” he said. “I am deeply grateful to the magazine’s leadership and staff for this honor. This is very special.”
Swindall teamed up with Colangelo and a cadre of local and national business and political leaders earlier this year as a guest speaker at the fourth annual Integrity Summit in Phoenix. Colangelo, a co-founder of the Integrity Institute, co-hosted the event, which also featured Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton.
An Arizona native, Swindall was born in Douglas and is a graduate of Globe High School.
Blackstone provides unarmed security to public and private sector clients. It celebrated its 20th anniversary by becoming the first and only private security company to win the BBB Business Ethics Award in 2012. As an encore Blackstone reached the semifinalist status in 2012 and 2013 for the Spirit of Enterprise Award given by the W.P. Carey School of Business at ASU, the only security company to achieve that honor. The company hit a trifecta of sorts when it made the Inc. 5000 of the nation’s fastest growing private companies in 2013 and 2014, and followed that by receiving Inc. Magazine’s “Hire Power” award as one of the most prolific job creators in the country.
Blackstone is headquartered in Phoenix and has regional offices in Tucson, Yuma, Albuquerque, Dallas, El Paso and Houston, and a satellite office in Gallup, N.M.
Swindall has served on the BBB Best practices panel and the BBB Business Ethics selection committee. He is serving his third consecutive term as Chair of the Board of Officers for the Arizona Private Security Professionals’ Association (APSPA). Swindall is also active in Assorted Security Services and Investigators of the State of Texas, and the California Association of Licensed Security Agencies, Guards and Associations.