BECKLEY — What started out in 2003 as a small company has blossomed into a thriving security business.

Cramer Security and Investigations started with a mere 14 employees and now employs 520 security guards and private investigators.

“We do physical security and security consulting for coal mines, hospitals, schools, and industrial plants,” President Timothy C. Boothe said. “We do private investigations for all our clients and individuals. Those can entail numerous things, but that’s the rough draft of what we do.”

Boothe served in the Army, then worked for the West Virginia State Police in Kanawha, Fayette and Raleigh counties.

He retired as a sergeant from the State Police and then went to work for a coal company. He was asked to hire a security company while there, but after several interviews, he said, “I should do this myself.”

That simple idea led Boothe to create the security company called Cramer, which is his middle name.

Cramer Security is now in four states: West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

“I don’t see any bounds as to where we can end up,” Boothe said. “We’re still growing.”

He said the company is always hiring and always accepting applications, which can be found online at www.cramersecurity.net or at the physical location 190 Templeview Drive in Beckley.

“We always give preference to retired or ex-military, veterans, or those with prior law enforcement experience.”

Currently, Cramer employs six retired state troopers who supervise individual sites.

Even if you don’t quite fit that profile, Boothe said as long as you’re clean-cut with no previous felony convictions or serious misdemeanors, he would encourage anyone to apply.

All shifts are available and Boothe said employees cannot have a problem with working alone, as many positions are for security guards.

He said the wages are competitive and both hourly and salary positions are available.

“We’ve never advertised. How we’ve grown to where we are today is just word of mouth, but now we’re at the point where we would like to grow even further.”

Not only does the company plan on growing, but Boothe said employees have the opportunity to grow as well.

The chain of command is set up like the State Police, with site supervisors, lieutenants and sergeants.

Boothe said an employee could start as a security guard and work his or her way up the ladder.

“I think we’re just a local company, operated by local citizens. We’re all from Beckley and we consider our employees our greatest asset. If they want to work for a stable company, and I consider us very stable at this point in time, with the opportunity to move up, Cramer offers a lot of potential.”

In the near future, Cramer Security and Investigations will offer a drug testing unit, which will provide on-site drug testing for clients.

“To our clients and businesses, they will have a company that will respond to their business location to do a certified drug test, giving them a chance to ensure their employees are compliant with their policies and procedures.”

The addition of the drug testing unit will also require additional hires at Cramer.

“We never expected to have 520 employees and we could easily be at 1,000 by the end of the year. We’re definitely blessed.”

— E-mail: wholdren@register-herald.com