Locked Down: How Kenton Brothers Protects the World’s Most Sensitive Bio Labs

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Locked Down: How Kenton Brothers Protects the World’s Most Sensitive Bio LabsBy David Strickland, COO of Kenton Brothers

When your facility houses some of the most dangerous pathogens on Earth, “good security” isn’t enough. It has to be flawless. At Kenton Brothers Systems for Security, we design and integrate multi-layered defense systems for biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) and level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories—environments so secure they’ve been called “prisons for pathogens.”

These are not metaphors. In these labs, every door, every badge reader, every airlock, and every human step is part of a tightly choreographed plan to protect people, property, and the public.

Multi-Layered Defense: The Fortress Within

High-containment labs demand more than barriers—they demand logic. Our security architecture mirrors the same redundant, fail-safe philosophy found in federal and state biosafety regulations (CDC/NIH BMBL, Select Agent Program, and NIH DRM standards).

We engineer defense in depth, including:

  • Perimeter control: Hardened access points, high-security locks, and biometric or multi-factor authentication.
  • Zoned containment: Security levels increase as personnel move closer to pathogen areas, with interlocked doors and pressure-controlled airlocks.
  • Integrated logic: Our systems communicate with building automation to prevent unsafe entry during air or power anomalies.
  • Redundancy everywhere: Backup power, dual networks, and redundant sensors ensure that nothing fails when it matters most.

This approach creates a living fortress—always secure, never stagnant.

Trained and Trusted Personnel

Technology is only as reliable as the people behind it. Every Kenton Brothers technician and project manager who enters a high-containment environment is vetted, trained, and briefed on biosafety principles.  We align our practices with Select Agent Regulations (42 CFR Part 73) and OSHA’s Bloodborne Pathogens Standard, ensuring our teams understand both the engineering and human safety sides of containment work.

Our specialists are drilled in:

  • Door interlock logic and pressure sequence validation
  • Emergency power and lockdown procedures
  • Secure credentialing and audit requirements
  • Integrated testing with mechanical and life-safety systems

In these labs, there is no margin for human error—and we treat it that way.

Locked Down: How Kenton Brothers Protects the World’s Most Sensitive Bio Labs

One Command Center, One Pane of Glass

Managing hundreds of sensors, controllers, and HVAC interfaces across a containment facility can overwhelm traditional systems. That’s why we design and install unified command environments with single plane of glass dashboards that visualize:

  • Door states and interlocks
  • Pressure differentials and HVAC status
  • Camera feeds and alarm conditions
  • Access events and audit trails

This “one-pane-of-glass” view allows facility teams to see, control, and verify their entire environment instantly. When seconds matter, clarity saves lives.

Seamless Upgrades, Zero Downtime

High-containment labs can’t afford outages. Our proprietary transition process allows us to modernize and take over legacy systems while they remain operational. Using shadow controllers, parallel databases, and staged commissioning, we keep containment intact while bringing systems up to today’s standards.

The result? Continuous security, continuous science.

Built to Meet and Exceed Federal Standards

Every design we deliver aligns with or exceeds:

  • CDC/NIH Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL, 6th Edition)
  • NIH Design Requirements Manual (DRM)
  • Federal Select Agent Program (FSAP)
  • ASHRAE laboratory ventilation guidance
  • UL 294 for access control equipment performance

These aren’t boxes we check—they’re the foundation of our design philosophy.

Protecting People, Science, and the Public

At Kenton Brothers, we believe that security and science share the same mission: protect life.
Our systems safeguard the researchers who push the boundaries of medicine and the communities who depend on their breakthroughs.

In a environment where the stakes couldn’t be higher, we bring together trained people, proven processes, and hardened technology to ensure that what’s inside those walls stays inside and that those who work there come home safely every day.

Because when it comes to pathogen containment, there’s no second chance.

WOW! Avigilon FIPS 140-2 certification in its H5A commercial camera line!

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By David Strickland, Vice President of Kenton Brothers

With hackers and subversives becoming more technically advanced, it is critical to national and local security to stay one step ahead.

One of Kenton Brothers System for Security trusted partners recently announced that their new line of commercial IP video surveillance cameras is FIPS 140-2 certified! What this means is that the H5A camera line now meets or exceeds Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).

The FIPS Standard

This standard requires that all information, including images and camera information, be encrypted to a minimum standard as it is being transported, processed or stored. This encrypted information can only be unlocked with a specific cryptographic key. So, if you don’t have the specific key, the images or information look like random ones and zeros, making no sense to a hacker that is trying to gain access to your system.

Of course, this is wonderful news as Avigilon has extended the encryption all the way out to the commercial security camera. If someone was able to gain access to a camera feed, it would still be useless to them. This is a WOW! for high security sites such as Federal Government, Municipal Government, Corrections Departments, Financial Institutions and the list goes on and on.

This coupled with the fact that Avigilon is manufactured in North America and is TAA and section 889 compliant, makes it an easy go to for any federal, state or local agency.

Next Generation Video Analytics

Avigilon H5A Camera LineIn addition to this high security update, the Avigilon H5A camera line also features next-generation video analytics technology.

The H5A line leverages the latest in AI-powered video analytics to detect and persistently track more objects – whether stationary or moving – with greater accuracy even in crowded scenes, detect unusual activity in a scene autonomously and apply facial recognition technology to alert off of face watch list matches. These advanced capabilities help provide detailed information on what is happening on your site so you can detect potentially critical security events faster and take responsive action, all while keeping the images and data secure.

The H5A line features unique object detection and self-learning video analytics, both of which allow clients to detect, confirm, and respond more quickly to incidents. These advances combine to create a smarter, more reliable CCTV system that utilizes the most powerful, intelligent technologies to ensure the safety of your people, property, and possessions.

We are very excited about this technology advancement!

Here are a few of the other highlights from the H5A Video Surveillance lineup:

  • The H5A line has camera image sensors with resolutions ranging from 2MP to and AMAZING 61MP and a few with 10K HD option
  • The camera line comes with a 5-year warranty standard
  • FIPS 140-2 CERTIFIED CRYPTOGRAPHY
    Enables the camera to be deployed at sites requiring FIPS-compliant cryptograph
  • NEXT-GENERATION VIDEO ANALYTICS
    Expanded object classifications and more accurate detection in crowded scenes so you can detect faster
  • Once mounted and aimed, the cameras zoom level can be adjusted and image can be focused remotely
  • LIGHTCATCHER™ TECHNOLOGY on board
    Offers exceptional detail in areas with low lighting
  • AUDIO CAPABILITIES
    Available ports for external audio including sirens, microphones and/or loudspeakers for audio talk-down situations

Want to learn more? Please schedule a demo with us today!

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Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare Swaps the Hassle of Keys and Manual Access Changes for Unified Access Management

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Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare LogoGolden Valley Memorial Healthcare (GVMH) is a leading rural healthcare organization dedicated to providing compassionate, friendly, quality care for patients close to home.

GVMH gives its rural communities convenient access to highly trained medical specialists who provide a full range of services, including specialized areas such as cardiology, oncology, ophthalmology and more. GVMH also has a high-tech 56-bed hospital, a 24/7 emergency department, four multi-specialty physician clinics, an outpatient clinic and a cancer center.

Focused on serving rural populations, GVMH operates a main campus in Clinton, Missouri. They also operate nine satellite healthcare facilities located in Windsor, Warsaw and Osceola, Missouri.

On any given day, they are processing thousands of employees and patients moving throughout their campuses and inside their facilities.

The Problem: A Cumbersome, Offline System

Though located in rural communities, GVMH experiences the same challenges as larger healthcare campuses in urban areas. On any given day, thousands of personnel are moving through their facility requiring multiple tiers of access. Patients must be kept safe and visitor tracking must be managed at all times. Finally, critical equipment and pharmaceuticals require highly regulated protocols.

Prior to 2019, GVMH’s access control operated offline, so whenever a key or credential was lost or needed to be changed to prevent unauthorized access, it had to be done onsite. Performing access changes this way took time and resources. Considering the number of times an access point has to be changed in any given month, it became clear they could reallocate their investment to a more streamlined and more secure solution.

The Solution: Network Security to Manage Multiple Locations

Kenton Brothers deployed an access control system in GVMH’s main building in Clinton and in all satellite clinics to standardize all access points. The access control system is IP-based, providing a unified management and administration experience through mobile apps and flexible architecture. Should GVMH expand, its access control solution expands with it.

Now, instead of rekeying or changing credential access at the location site, GVMH’s administrators can remotely cancel a credential/badge at any building from one location.

Unified access control is phase one of GVMH’s long-term plan. Phase two will tackle the organization’s intrusion system. Like access control, GVMH’s intrusion alert system will be consistent across all locations and on one platform to consolidate security vendors and result in measurable resource and cost savings.

To learn more about access control systems for your organization, please give us a call.

COVID Fighter – Opening Office Doors Without Using Your Hands

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By Ryan Kaullen, Field Services Manager at Kenton Brothers

You can’t turn on the TV, read a news article, or go anywhere without hearing about COVID. And rightfully so. COVID is causing uncertainty in our world, but one thing is certain… Kenton Brothers is working at the forefront to help our customers stay safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Wrist Pulls, Push Plates and Foot Pulls

COVID Fighter: Foot PullsRecently, we’ve been getting requests and calls for help related to door hardware. Our customers are asking, “How can we add safety features to keep our employees safe while keeping our doors/openings functional?” In response, we’ve been installing wrist pulls, push plates, and foot pulls at our customer sites to meet this growing need.

Wrist pulls, push plates, and foot pulls allow employees to go in and out of doors without using their hands. A perfect example of this type of project was the recent installation of 38 restroom doors on a multi-floor office building. We can keep the functionality of commercial doors intact, maintaining a clean and professional appearance, while increasing the health safety for the staff.

Want to know more about COVID Fighter solutions?

Is your company looking for ways to offer hands free solutions to openings at your facility? We would love the opportunity to show you our full line of COVID Fighter offerings. These include hands-free mechanical locking hardware, touchless Commercial Access Control, and Commercial Video Temperature Monitoring solutions. Give us a call!

COVID Fighter: Hands Free Mechanical Locking Hardware COVID Fighter: Hands Free Mechanical Locking Hardware

Global Solutions: Easily Centralize Control of all your Locations

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By Ryan Kaullen, Field Services Manager at Kenton Brothers

Kenton Brothers has the honor and privilege of working with many types of customers including government entities. Recently, a governmental client located in the state of Missouri wanted to expand their access control system. The goal was to deploy it globally across their different physical sites across the state.

You may ask, “What’s a Global Solution?” Think of it like an ecosystem that enables users to knit together an entire security management system & video management system under one, centrally controlled, and distributed network.

S2 Security LogoThis specific customer uses S2, an access control platform that Kenton Brothers supports and installs. This access control application made sense for the customer for many reasons, including the ability to monitor and manage multiple locations centrally. They can quickly build reports that run on a schedule, make security changes immediately that are reflected across the entire system, and build and administer global access levers that grant permissions across the entire organization.

Kenton Brothers: Global S2 Solution for Governmental Entity

Our S2 based solution took care of a major need for this customer. Previously, they were using a collection of off-line systems. These included mechanical systems with no audit capabilities and individual access control systems with no standardization.

The S2 Global solution allows them to have standardized security across all of their sites. They’ve reduced their liability, upgraded their commercial security, and adopted a centrally managed system. The results? Their business is more efficient, they receive expedited alerts of security issues, and they have the ability to expand their coverage across future sites down the road.

Whether Kenton Brothers’ clients need a standalone system or something as intricate as a global deployment for their business needs, we are able to help and guide our customers down the path that best protects their people, property, and possessions.

Kenton Brothers: Global S2 Solution for Governmental Entity