AGB Investigative Services was founded in 2001 as an investigation firm but today it exists as a full-service security provider. The firm’s corporate clients include the likes of ComEd, Nicor and Walmart. AGB started in Illinois but today has a presence in California, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Philadelphia, Denver and the District of Columbia. The firm recently celebrated the opening of its new headquarters, a $5.5 million facility. Not bad for a business that started in a basement.

AGB Investigative Services, Inc., offers expertise in all aspects of security, including physical and cyber. Founded in 2001 by Dr. Denitra and John Griffin, the firm is focused on protecting “your people, property, and data.” AGB combines state-of-the-art technology with physical security and education, employing 600 full- and part-time security professionals who provide armed and unarmed security services, cyber security, private investigations and expert-level training. The firm’s growth was enhanced exponentially when Griffin’s wife, Dr. Denitra Griffin (Ed.D.), helped the company expand its offerings. A former Chicago Public Schools program manager, Dr. Griffin was able to develop the firm’s management and training systems, steering the company into providing more corporate services.

AGB’s new headquarters is located in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood of Chicago, a community over 90 percent Black. 41 percent of the households there make less than $25,000 annually and just under 10 percent of residents hold a bachelor’s degree. Auburn Gresham is full of hardworking, solid families who’ve owned their homes for generations. It is also a place where a car could pull up to unsuspecting victims standing on a sidewalk and begin shooting, under the right circumstances. Auburn Gresham is many things to many people but to AGB it is now home. The company’s investment in the neighborhood is certainly welcome and in time, could be another great catalyst in the neighborhood’s economic resurgence.

A moment of prayer during the AGB grand opening of its new headquarters

Photo: AGB YouTube channel

AGB stands for “Always Giving Back” and the company is true to its name. Through the Always Giving Back Foundation, the Griffins are providing opportunities to local youth. The Foundation has provided over $45,000 in scholarships and provides hundreds of young people with business internships. AGB is about more than business services. True to its name, the company is always giving back to those who need it most. Dr. Griffin and her husband John are, for sure, the kind of Black excellence needed in today’s world.

**AGB’s new headquarters is actually a $2.5 million facility.**