INDIANAPOLIS – It’s been four years since Switzerland-based lock and security company dormakaba acquired Best Access Solutions from Stanley Black & Decker Inc. (NYSE: SWK) in a $725 million deal. Since establishing its Access Solutions Americas headquarters in Indianapolis, dormakaba says it has been focused on innovation in the security access solutions market. The company recently unveiled its Americas Discovery Center, designed to spotlight the latest in security technology for everything from airports to stadiums.
“It’s our opportunity to show our customers, our distribution channels all the different solutions that we can pool together in order to make life safe,” said Daniel Stewart, business development manager for dormakaba Americas. “You see our stuff in the new Rams stadium that was built over in Los Angeles.”
Traditionally, dormakaba would do much of its business at trade shows, but the onset of the pandemic last year changed those plans. It was simply out of necessity and a little thinking outside the box that spurred the creation of the Discovery Center.
“The concept for the Discovery Center came to be when we realized that the COVID pandemic was going to last for more than a couple of weeks,” said Alex Houston, chief operating officer for dormakaba. “We wanted to have an infrastructure in order to do that here and do it even in a digital fashion because we really didn’t know when this would end.”
Stewart says the company built the Discovery Center with the funds it had previously set aside for its trade show activities. He says the center highlights technology the company has developed for a post-pandemic world, such as touchless security solutions to make entering a building more sanitary.
Just one year after acquiring Best Access Solutions, dormakaba detailed plans to expand its facility on the northeast side of Indianapolis and create more than 100 jobs.
dormakaba currently employs more than 600 people in Indy and will be hiring for several dozen positions in the coming weeks.
Original article from Inside Indiana Business.