Chris Shovein is a police officer at UMD. But he also has his own business called ‘At the Ready,’ which focuses on self-defense and active threat training.

On Thursday, he presented to fellow Hermantown Chamber folks at the member luncheon at the YMCA Essentia Health Wellness Center.

Along with safety and preparedness tips, he showed them ways to get away from someone who is grabbing you.

This topic for the luncheon was inspired by an experience that the chamber’s president and CEO went through at the Mall of America last year.

Kim Parmeter and her daughter were shopping when there was a shooting. “She knew all of this stuff because they were doing active shooter drills in school. And I’ve worked in small business for a long time, and we don’t do things like that,” she said.

So she asked Shovein to come in, since he’s a chamber member.

He was glad to share more advice about safety. “Confidence is key. If I can help build that and self-reliance, and belief in yourself, that’s important,” Shovein said.

Megan Matson, from National Bank of Commerce, appreciated the refresher. “I just love learning about self-defense, because you never know when things might happen. Being aware of how to protect myself is important.”

For more info about At the Ready: www.atrdefense.com

And for more about the Hermantown Chamber: https://hermantownchamber.com/