About Us
High Street Consulting, a Veteran Owned Small Business, is a leading provider of emergency preparedness and management services comprised of practitioners who check our egos at the door and maintain a culture of trust and teamwork, setting the standard of excellence for the industry.
Our Partners
Founder and President, Zach Becker
Zach brings over 25 years of emergency management experience to the table. “I founded High Street Consulting to bring the values, culture, and work ethic of my hometown New Britain, Connecticut to my clients. The company is named for the street I grew up on: emblematic of its origin and future success.” His project portfolio includes successfully supporting and managing high-visibility Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Defense (DoD), and state/local contracts.
Chief Operating Officer, Maria Karwan
Maria wears many hats, drawing from her broad-ranging experience across post-secondary educational institutions, private industry, a government research lab, and 501(c)(3) organizations. Maria holds an MBA from the University at Buffalo and oversees daily operations, finance, HR, marketing, and communications to help HSC achieve its strategic goals.
Senior Vice President, Matt Stuhr
Matt brings over 20 years of experience as leader and team builder across security, homeland security and emergency management domains with extensive knowledge of and experience in strategic and tactical application of police, security, and military resources domestically and abroad. Matt has continued to serve as a military police officer in the National Guard since the attacks on 9/11.
Our Team
THE TEAM APPROACH DEFINES OUR CULTURE
High Street’s consulting culture is based on the partners’ experiences in the military and emergency management: one team, one effort.
Our team includes certified project managers, training and exercise specialists, and subject matter experts with strategic, operational, and tactical experience. Our approach applies the firm’s collective knowledge and experiences to our clients’ toughest challenges. We check our egos at the door to produce and apply the best team solution.
We work together to identify the root cause of clients’ problems and apply critical thinking and novel approaches to produce high-quality solutions in risk assessment and analysis, strategic and implementation planning, training and exercise design and conduct, and evaluation-driven course and program improvement to improve preparedness in any situation.
Clients Served
Testimonials
Few managers in senior leadership inspire, coach, and mentor all levels of staff – but that is exactly what Zach did. As the program manager for the training practice, he developed his staff and generated enthusiasm not only for the work we did but for the team we worked with. Zach motivates his team to perform at the highest level and has innovative ideas. More importantly, he turns those ideas into reality; from team structure to new business opportunities. He is an expert in program management, budgeting, and financial management, and is well known in FEMA for his training and exercise expertise. He is a tremendous senior leader and program manager; I would recommend Zach to any organization.
I have worked directly with Matt for several years. He has always proven himself to be an outstanding project executive, a strong thought leader, and a cohesive bonding agent to any organization. He strives to deepen his understanding of the nature of a business or project, as well as the collective skills/knowledge of those with whom he works, in order to get the best results from the team. Matt’s intelligence, work ethic, attention to detail, and personality make him a tremendous asset to every organization he touches.
Zach is an excellent project manager and team lead, who trusts his staff to complete their assignments without feeling the need to micromanage their work. Though he is fully prepared to get in-the-weeds when required by a task, Zach effectively uses his team’s collective skillset to set up cross-coverage on deliverables and enable smooth completion of objectives. Zach’s greatest strengths, however, lie in his relationships. Clients rely on Zach for specific outcomes, and his attentive service to their requests solidifies their confidence in future performance. On a managerial level, Zach goes out of his way to truly exemplify the difference between a boss and a leader. His ability to forge close relationships with all levels of staff, down to the newest junior employee, is unparalleled and he takes an active interest in the wellbeing of his charges. Members of Zach’s team are loyal and driven not because he is their manager, but because they trust him personally. I looked to Zach as a mentor, and continue to do so. He is a credit to any organization lucky enough to have him.
Matt Stuhr is a leader who excels in coordinating teams as well as working with individuals one-on-one. As a senior manager, Matt makes himself available to staff for mentorship and guidance based on his subject matter expertise. He is quick to offer solutions to tough problems, and he always follows up. Matt is incredible at delivering a leader’s intent, offering clear guidance at the outset of every project. He takes care to ensure that he communicates effectively throughout the project lifecycle, asking for feedback and working with the team to keep everyone on the same page. He is a team player, always sharing credit for success and making his team members feel valued. Over my tenure at our company, Matt has become both a mentor and a friend whom I respect and enjoy working with.
