By Nancy Brown, Executive Director of KYPTAC
In honor of Veterans Day, we are highlighting Kaba Mas as a company that hires veterans and Darrall Henderson, Ph.D., Vice President of Kaba Mas. Thank you for your service and contributions, Darrall!
Kaba Mas high-security locks are the trusted choice for securing the United States government's most sensitive spaces and materials. Located in Lexington, Kentucky, Kaba Mas develops, manufactures, and markets advanced security, electronic access control products for government use.
Founded in 1989, as the Mas-Hamilton Group, the strategy was simple; advance existing technology to a level that would satisfy the United States government’s Federal Specification FF-L-2740 for high-security locking devices. In 2001, Mas-Hamilton was acquired by Kaba Holding AG, located in Rumlang, Switzerland. It was at this time that Mas-Hamilton became known as Kaba Mas.
The 2015 merger of DORMA and Kaba formed an industry leader and trusted source for security and access control solutions. As a subsidiary of dormakaba USA Inc. governed by a special security agreement with the U.S. government, Kaba Mas can isolate U.S. government restricted technology yet leverage dormakaba's global supply chain to continue to provide advanced access solutions for government use. www.kabamas.com
Darrall Henderson, Ph.D., Vice President of Kaba Mas, has years of experience in leadership and business ranging from the boardrooms to operations throughout the world and is passionate about customer satisfaction, growth, and process improvement. Before joining the Kaba Mas team, Darrall was the State Director for the Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center which is a Department of Defense program to help small businesses compete in the government contracting space. Prior to that, Darrall worked with Open-Source Integrators, a consulting firm that provides strategic planning, enterprise resource planning, and change management advice to small and medium-sized companies.
Darrall was a Colonel in the Army Corps of Engineers with years of experience as an engineer, analyst, and strategic planner. After leaving active duty, he worked for a large aerospace company as a Business Development Executive, Program Manager, and Country Manager for activities in Afghanistan. Prior to being appointed as Country Manager in Afghanistan, Darrall worked for another large defense contractor as the Program Manager for the Afghan Education Project, responsible for a team of professionals selected to create and implement the professional development and education system for the Afghan National Army.
He received his Bachelor’s degree in Building Construction from the University of Florida, holds a Master of Science degree in Operations Research from Stanford University and a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the US Army War College. Darrall also holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech.
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