KCI Technologies

Early Corporate History

The history of KCI can be traced to a small firm operating out of the basement of the co-founder’s Baltimore County, Maryland, home in 1955. By its second year, Matz Childs and Associates took up residence in a proper facility, only to change locations several times over the next decade in a succession of moves that paralleled its growth. In 1977, the recently renamed MCA was purchased, along with three other architectural and engineering firms, by industrial products conglomerate Walter Kidde & Company. The Kidde acquisitions merged into an engineering subsidiary that came to be known as Kidde Consultants Inc., or KCI. During the 1980s, KCI expanded throughout the Mid-Atlantic, opening new offices in Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

Employee Ownership

In August 1987, Hanson Trust PLC of Great Britain, a manufacturing company with diversified holdings worldwide, purchased Kidde, the parent company. Soon thereafter, KCI initiated an employee buyout from Hanson, which was completed in December 1988. KCI became Maryland’s largest employee-owned company. In 1991, the official name was changed to KCI Technologies Inc. In 2008, the corporate headquarters moved to its present location in Sparks, Md.

Continued Growth

In control of our own destiny since that time, KCI has been able to share its prosperity and success with all of our team. Over the years, our stock value has significantly outperformed both the S&P 500 and NASDAQ indices, turning some of our long-time staff members from entry-level employees into millionaires.

With revenues exceeding $467 million, Engineering News-Record has consistently placed KCI among the top consulting engineering firms in the country. Today, 2,400 employee-owners operate out of more than 60 offices in dozens of states across the U.S.