Compliance keeps you code-compliant;
awareness keeps you alive.
While standard EHS training focuses heavily on regulatory checklists, environmental hazards, PPE, and technical standards (HAZWOPER, LOTO, Fall Protection), Upstate Protective Group focuses on the human element. We train yourself, your team, or your family in human behavior profiling, pre-incident threat indicators , active situational awareness, and stress-inoculated physical survival mechanics.
Our mission
We're on a mission to to empower organizations, businesses, and everyday people across the Upstate with the critical skills, situational awareness, and proactive risk strategies needed to prevent threats, mitigate hazards, and build resilient, secure environments.
Our vision
To be the premier threat recognition and risk consulting firm in the region, recognized for transforming complex security concepts into practical, life-saving awareness for every organization we serve.
Our team
David Harter
Founder / Threat mitigation Expert
Joe Borovika
Co- Instructor/ Founder of SaferSooner
David Harter | Security Strategist & Threat Mitigation Consultant
David Harter is the founder of Upstate Protective Group, a South Carolina firm specializing in personal risk mitigation, threat assessments, and situational awareness training. A veteran of the United States Navy, David served 7 years as a Master at Arms (Military Police), specializing in Force Protection and Anti-Terrorism operations. He has extensive real-world experience conducting physical threat assessments, campus security overhauls, and risk mitigation across high-risk environments. Combining operational security principles with practical behavioral profiling, David empowers real estate professionals, corporate teams, and solo operators to identify pre-threat indicators, control their physical environment, and navigate modern field risks with confidence.
Lead Instructor, Safer Sooner (ReadinessRX)
Joe Borovicka is a self-protection coach, military veteran, and founder of Safer Sooner (ReadinessRX). With operational experience across four continents and three combat zones, Joe brings real-world perspective to personal defense, stress management, and close-quarters safety. A certified Personal Defense Readiness Coach and affiliated instructor under Blauer Tactical Systems, Joe focuses on evidence-based self-protection and fear management mechanics. His training methodology centers on human instinct—converting startle-flinch responses into functional protective positioning and teaching non-telegraphic movement to escape high-risk physical situations in everyday environments.