UG Solutions
A snapshot of video footage from Gaza released by UG Solutions.
UG Solutions, a private security firm founded in Davidson, has attracted national attention recently for its work providing security services for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) at aid sites in Gaza. When articles of organization for the company were filed back in 2023, its principal office was listed as 201 Delburg Street—the Hurt Hub.
Although UG Solutions is based in suburban North Carolina and now has an office in Mooresville, it operates internationally. Earlier this month, an Associated Press investigation alleged that contractors with UG Solutions and other private security forces in Gaza fired live ammunition and stun grenades into crowds of Palestinians seeking food at GHF aid sites.
UG Solutions refuted AP’s investigation as “false accusations, lies and speculative, unsupported accusations provided by a disgruntled former contractor, who is retaliating after we removed him from our mission for behavior that was below our high standards,” in a statement on their website. “No Gazans have been shot at by the GHF team, period.”
UG Solutions officials and Davidson College maintain that the company was never a member of the Hurt Hub, a College owned co-working space. Still, in 2023 and 2024 filings, the Hurt Hub was listed as their principal office.
The Hurt Hub, officially the Jay Hurt Hub for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is a coworking space for local professionals and students operated by the College. When co-workers purchase a membership, they must register with a company name.
Jameson Govoni was described by a company spokesperson as founding UG Solutions. He is listed in filings with the NC Secretary of State’s Office as a company member and registered agent and on LinkedIn as a managing partner. Govoni purchased a membership to the Hurt Hub in mid-2022 under the Sentinel Foundation, a nonprofit he founded that combats human trafficking.
Articles of organization for UG Solutions LLC were filed in March 2023 with Govoni’s signature on the document. The 201 Delburg Street address was listed as the principal office. In an annual report filed on May 5, 2024 that address was provided again as the principal office. Govoni did not provide comments and directed questions to Jeffery Boyd, UG’s chief administrative officer. Boyd said that UG was “never a Hub member nor ever used the Hub space.”
“I guess they used the same address as Sentinel at that time for ease of getting mail,” Boyd said. “Just admin oversight.”
In order to use the Hurt Hub, anyone who is not a student or affiliated with the College must have a membership. UG Solutions did not.
“The only businesses that are permitted to use the Hub resources are those that have a membership,” said Mark Johnson, Davidson’s chief communications and marketing officer. “Those memberships range in time periods and the benefits they provide. The Hurt Hub never provided a membership to UG Solutions.”
According to Johnson, the College learned that UG Solutions listed the Hurt Hub address as their business address after Govoni’s membership through the Sentinel Foundation ended in July 2024.
“The Hub staff discovered that the foundation was still listing the Hub’s address as a business address and that UG Solutions was also using that address,” Johnson said. “The foundation membership had ended, and UG Solutions never had a membership. The Hub staff asked Mr. Govoni to discontinue using the Hub address.”
The most recent annual report, from March 2025, sites UG Solutions’ principal office as the Davidson post office. Despite this documentation, Boyd said they work out of an office in Mooresville and their only remaining corporate connection to Davidson is a PO Box at the post office.
UG Solutions was born out of Govoni and Boyd’s work at the Sentinel Foundation. A donor to the foundation who was familiar with Govoni’s background in special forces requested protection for their family, according to Boyd. From that, UG Solutions was born. Their work has grown from family protection services to international contracts with private organizations like GHF.
“The founders of our businesses and their colleagues and network are all coming from the elite special forces world, so they all have worked internationally before and have a lot of networks and contacts at high levels. Other countries, other companies, officials, etc,” Boyd said. “Through one of those contacts, we got the contract in Israel.”
During the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in January through March of this year, UG Solutions hired 96 special forces veterans to run a checkpoint in Gaza. These two months marked the first deployment of armed American contractors in Gaza. Reuters reported contractors were offered a daily rate of $1,1000, and were armed with M14 rifles and glock pistols.
“We had some connections to the ceasefire in Gaza,” Boyd said. “We did some security at the border, if you will, in Gaza. We got that contract to do security for the ceasefire process.”
UG Solutions is now providing security at four GHF aid distribution sites. Citing backgrounds in special forces, Boyd said that contractors do not receive special training from the company before arriving in Gaza.
“We did not have a week or two or three week training program beforehand,” Boyd said. “When they got on the ground, they did have several days of training and verification of their skill sets.”
In line with his company, Boyd denied all accusations of violence towards Palestinians and excessive use of force. “People have claimed that there were weapons being fired into the crowds by our guys, but it’s patently false,” Boyd said.
At least 1,373 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed while seeking food since the end of May, according to the United Nations. 859 of those killed were in the vicinity of the GHF sites.
UG Solutions’ connection to the Hurt Hub has not been previously reported, but the company’s origin in Davidson has been covered since January. It struck a chord with some residents. Andrew Acosta is part of the CODEPINK North Carolina chapter, a grassroots peace organization. He spoke during the public comment portion of a Davidson Board of Commissioners meeting in May.
“When you hear about Gaza I want all of you to know that our neighbors are there now,” Acosta said. “Davidson is directly involved.”