Jack Plaxe is a security, crisis, and risk management professional with three decades of diverse and proven experience. His expertise lies in designing and implementing custom security programs based on best practices to safeguard people, facilities, assets, operations, information, and corporate reputation. Prior to his role as a senior consultant in our Chicago office, Mr. Plaxe founded and led a specialized firm providing security consulting services.
Previously, Mr. Plaxe was the Director of Corporate Security for Brown-Forman, parent company of the iconic Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey and 30+ spirits and wine brands. In this role, he was responsible for the protection of all employees, facilities, and operations around the globe. This included providing security at Casa Herradura in Mexico, which included all agricultural, manufacturing, ageing, warehousing, bottling, domestic sales and distribution, and export operations under the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) program.
Over his career, Mr. Plaxe has provided security consultation to government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels, corporations, and non-profit organizations.
- Government clients have included federal agencies with offices across the U.S. and territories, state and local aviation authorities, municipalities, school systems, water systems, as well as police and fire departments.
- Corporate clients have included leading U.S. companies in the aerospace, agriculture, beverages, chemical, farm machinery, financial services, healthcare, hotels and resorts, logistics, manufacturing, medical devices, real estate, retail, technology, and utilities sectors.
- Non-profit clients have included charitable foundations, educational organizations, religious organizations, and private foundations.
Early in his consulting career, Mr. Plaxe worked as a government contractor for a Washington, DC security consulting, design, and engineering firm. One of his noteworthy assignments was conducting security evaluations of government buildings and offices after the Oklahoma City bombing. He later authored terrorist and domestic extremist risk assessments in each of the 10 Federal regions.
Mr. Plaxe also provided security consulting services to Chicago O’Hare and Midway Airports through the firm’s aviation division. During the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, he worked in the O’Hare Crisis Management Center alongside airport security leadership to manage the rapidly changing threat environment. That evening, he briefed Mayor Daley’s office on the terrorist threat to the city, including the potential for contamination of the city’s water system.
Mr. Plaxe attended the Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations, with a concentration in international security studies. A Spanish speaker, he completed advanced Spanish and Spanish composition courses at the Catholic University in Quito, Ecuador.
Mr. Plaxe pursued postgraduate studies in the Department of International Relations at the University of St. Andrews Center for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence. He studied under Professor Paul Wilkinson, terrorism expert and author, and submitted his MPhil dissertation entitled “Aviation security and terrorism, with particular reference to the problem of explosives detection.”
An active member of the security industry, Plaxe has been a member of ASIS International since 1996. He has served as the Chair of the Chicago and Louisville Chapters and has been a member of the Global Terrorism and the Transportation Security Councils. Additionally, he served for one year as the Chair of the InfraGard Kentucky Members Alliance.
Did You Know?
Jack is an avid reader and book collector. His personal library contains more than 1,000 books on the subjects of security, terrorism, espionage, and warfare.
