Protecting High Value Assets
Protecting High Value Assets: this phrase expresses the mission for Kennon Products and the litmus test for decisions on investing the company’s resources. Located in the foothills of the Big Horn Mountains in Sheridan, Wyoming, the company’s ability to innovate and excellence in engineering led to its focus on protecting high value assets and the most important asset, life.
A History of Innovation
Founded in 1984 in Los Angeles, Kennon Products concentrated originally on the aviation market with its sun shield coverings for aircraft. Hailed by aviation magazines, the company grew quickly and in 1989, founder Ron Kensey packed his family and belongings into a converted school bus and moved his home, family, and company to Sheridan, Wyoming.
The company continued to grow in Wyoming and, in 1995, an aerospace engineer at Ohio’s Wright Patterson Air Base saw the Kennon Sun Shields and requested Kennon’s help in protecting F-15 aircraft deployed in Operation Desert Storm. This order opened new doors for the company; suddenly, Kennon’s products were in use around the world, protecting US military, commercial, and private aircraft. By 2002, Kennon was producing custom aircraft coverings and sun shields for a wide variety of aircraft for all branches of the United States military.
During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, heat and sand put new stresses on military aircraft, and Kennon stepped up with more protective offerings. These innovations protect highly-specialized, $200 million aircraft and the precious lives of pilots by safeguarding aircraft interiors and electronics from damaging dust and debris as well as preventing cockpits from overheating.
PMAC covers on an F-22
In 2008, representatives of the Veteran’s Administration approached Kennon with a new and very specific need: protecting patients in behavioral health facilities. In response, Kennon applied its engineering and manufacturing expertise to create the first Soft Suicide Prevention Door (SSPD). The “breakaway” door was designed to replace conventional bathroom and shower doors and eliminate ligature points which could be used by suicidal patients. In the Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, the VA reported that reducing ligature points with products including Kennon’s original SSPD led to an 82% reduction in suicides in their behavioral health units.
Fast forward 13 years and Kennon announced a fully redesigned door. The new Kennon SSPD Door 2.0 is an anti-ligature bathroom door held in place by magnets that are strong enough to hold the door in place for regular use but allow the door to breakaway with minimal pressure. With a lightweight foam core, a waterproof vinyl cover, and high-definition images on both sides, the door presents no ligature points and is too soft and light to be used as a weapon.
The new door also has a unique shape that contributes to a modern and appealing environment. The profile also increases function, enabling staff to check in on the patient without infringing on patient privacy. Images on the doors can be customized and are often drawn from nature, which research has found to have a healing effect.
With a lightweight foam core, a waterproof vinyl cover, and high-definition images on both sides, the door presents no ligature points and is too soft and light to be used as a weapon.
Biophilia, or the love of nature, “… inherently results in environments that soothe, comfort, orient, and calm, it’s specifically relevant to the design of spaces that support behavioral health” according to Healthcare Design Magazine. Kennon provides a gallery of images from which clients can choose, or clients can supply their own images, a popular option for architects who are designing new facilities.
Another element in the company’s strategy of protecting high value assets is in the commercial market. In 2014, an architect approached Kennon with an unusual request: creating a bar cover for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Dodger Stadium had two outdoor bars in the outfield and the County of Los Angeles had a new health ordinance that required rodent-proofing outdoor food and beverage operations. Putting a fixed structure around the bars would defeat their purpose as open-air venues. The Kennon team used their material-sourcing and engineering know-how and previous experience in creating wellhead covers in the oil and gas industry to develop rodent-proof covers for the bars and another Kennon innovation was born.
The covers met the requirements laid out by the County of Los Angeles and baseball fans were able to continue enjoying their beverages outdoors at Dodger Stadium. Based on that success, architects and business owners from other outdoor food and beverage establishments continue to approach Kennon with their own unique requests for coverings to protect their own high value assets.
A Team of Employee Owners
The common threads in each of these product origin stories is engineering excellence, expertise and innovation. Kennon has a workforce of 60 employees, organized into production, administration, sales and engineering teams. The production team has decades of experience in the industry while the engineering team consists of material scientists, chemical, industrial, and mechanical engineers, many of whom have advanced degrees. Designing new products to meet customers’ demanding specifications often involves combining these engineering specialties to create custom designs.
Kennon made a strategic hire in 2010 when Joe Wright joined the company as its third engineer. He began by assisting the operations team, building greater efficiency into the company’s products and processes. His impact was also felt in the company’s culture when he began the “All Hands Meeting.”
Company culture is an important factor for Kennon Products. The All Hands Meeting takes place daily during the shift change, so all employees can attend. Reviewing financials is an integral part of the all-hands meetings and every meeting has a theme so that each department can describe their projects; often, guest speakers join the All Hands, too.
“I think if you walked in, you’d have a hard time knowing who is who. I’d like to think we’re a fairly flat organization and we’re pretty transparent,” commented Mr. Wright. “We try to treat people like employee owners and that creates a palpable energy. You can’t necessarily describe it or put your finger on it, but it’s something that is different from other companies and it’s a positive aspect of our culture.”
By 2015, the original CEO, Ron Kensey, was thinking about his succession plans and the next steps for the company. He wanted to preserve the company’s presence in Sheridan and its strong culture, but he also wanted to execute his business succession plan and to be able to sell stock on his own timeline in the company he had built.
An Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) was the answer and the ESOP decision process was straightforward, according to Mr. Wright. “We attended an ESOP presentation by Menke in Denver and after that, we decided to implement an ESOP and go with Menke. The fact that Menke was long-standing and present at the beginning [of ESOPs] was important in the decision.”
Kennon Products had its first stock sale in 2016 and currently is at 44%. At that time, Joe Wright assumed the leadership role for the company and became CEO. He continued, “In my experience, ESOPs are not intuitive and the various folks at Menke have been both responsive and informative in our ESOP journey. I’d recommend them to anyone.”
Mr. Wright described the reactions of the Kennon employee owners, “People who have been with the company for three to four years have seen the value of their stocks increase and appreciate the program. It’s an exciting day when we distribute the new stock certificates to our employee owners.”
The Kennon team fulfills its mission according to four core values: Daring, Responsive, Integrity and Caring. Wright continued, “Developing different product ideas, refining them and bringing them to market demands a lot of creativity and collaboration.”
Kennon’s business continues to grow and in July of 2021, the company moved into a new, custom-built, state-of-the-art engineering and manufacturing facility. The new 35,000 square foot building has plenty of space to continue to innovate.
Kennon’s new 35,000 square foot building
Kennon’s stakeholders agree. The company recently polled internal and external audiences, including customers, vendors, the Sheridan community and employees, who voiced a common theme: innovation. According to Mr. Wright, Kennon is “committed to doing whatever it takes to protect our customers’ high value assets and deliver customer satisfaction at every turn.”
“I’m proud of all of Kennon’s products. We make products that save lives, whether talking about fighter pilots or behavioral health patients,” summarized Mr. Wright. “Our business continues to thrive and people thrive along with it.”
