Homeland security a thriving business

"The last thing I want to do is to capitalize on what happened'" said Pinkerton, co-founder and chief technology officer at Polytorx. 'But at the same time, there's a big need for products that could resist these horrible sorts of explosions.'

'Laid-back town'

Except for the occasional break-in and domestic squabble, Demorest is as far from trouble as you can get. Its bucolic charm has attracted an influx of newcomers looking for time-shares, fresh mountain air and escape from big-city life.

"It's a pretty laid-back town'" said Greg Ellingson, Demorest's police chief for the past 17 years.

That is, until the FBI showed up three months ago, wanting more information about a man who had applied for a railroad job, said Ellingson, whose team had conducted the original background check for the railroad. It turned out the job applicant had ties to a terrorist cell in the United States.

The background checks done in Demorest mostly uncover DUIs, traffic court no-shows, drug violations, bad checks, sex offenses, assaults, embezzlement and the like.

Requests come in from around the country, including banks, hospitals, day care centers, nursing homes and other employers. An individual's data ' name, Social Security number and birthday ' are checked against the Georgia Crime Information Center.

"Just about any crime you can commit, we've come across'" said Gano, who spends her day in a room the size of a two-car garage scanning documents.

Her office conducted 14,073 background checks last September. The service brings in $175,000 a year for the police department, a hefty supplement to its annual budget of $300,000 from the city.

Language skills vital

Two days after the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11, Savannah State University got the go-ahead to enter the field of homeland security. It was a year in the making.

"We saw the importance of Sept. 11 and Katrina'" said Bernard Bongang, assistant professor of political science. Bongang teaches American foreign policy and related courses.

Savannah State's homeland security major is modeled after one at Virginia Commonwealth University, which graduated its first class in homeland security last year.

Savannah State's program is part of the university's department of political science, public administration and urban studies.

In addition to being trained in counterterrorism and emergency management, homeland security majors are expected to be proficient in Arabic, Chinese, Farsi or Spanish when they graduate.

Foreign language skills, especially Middle Eastern languages, are in demand.

"This new major is a significant step in helping to create a new generation of policy-makers, managers and scholars who are prepared to confront the devastation that cuts across economic, social and racial lines in the aftermath of a major crisis'" said Jane Gate, vice president for academic affairs at Savannah State.

VCU associate professor William Parrish said market demands have created this new profession.

"This generation witnessed the events that occurred five years ago'" said Parrish, a retired Marine colonel who teaches some of the security courses. 'They're leaning toward a career of service. We're producing professionals to go out into the work force.'