CEO Today USA Awards

CEO Today USA Awards 2019 www.ceotodaymagazine.com - F L O R I D A - 42 WARREN BEATTY KANDERS CEO of Safariland LLC FIRM PROFILE The Safariland Group, a company with a rich heritage in the law enforcement and sporting markets, encompasses a group of recognized and well-respected brands known for their innovation and quality. We are committed to focusing on the customer first in all we do. Our mission, Together, We Save Lives, is much more than a statement; it is a creed we live by. Innovation. Performance. Excellence. Legacy. At The Safariland Group we live these values every day. We live them when we empower over two thousand people to design, engineer, research and deliver our protective equipment products to those that keep us safe. We live them as we continuously seek new innovations to add to the premier group of Safariland product lines that protect law enforcement, military and security professionals. We live them when we help save lives. Our Safariland SAVES CLUB® has chronicled and honored over 2,035 public safety professionals whose lives have been saved, in part through using our products. We’re proud of who we are and what we do. This year, we celebrate The Safariland Group’s 55-year anniversary of providing trusted and innovative life-saving equipment to law enforcement, military, outdoor recreation and personal protection markets. As we move into the future, we rely on The Safariland Group’s legacy to guide and influence the company’s growth through our collective pledge to achieve excellence, and our customer-first focus. It is a common thread that binds us together and it has gotten us to where we are today. In 1964, following his father’s request for a custom holster, Neale Perkins launched a holster business from his garage in Sierra Madre, California. He named his new company Safariland, after the African safari excursions he and his father enjoyed together. Within a few short months, Neale’s custom holster was a hit and he went from making a few hundred holsters a month to more than 5,000. Safariland soon gained a reputation for transforming the industry with innovative, high-quality products. In the 1970’s Safariland saw a need for commercially available concealable body armor to protect law enforcement and won the first contract with the LAPD to supply body armor. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Safariland reached new milestones by introducing the first Level III Retention™ duty holster and by becoming the first in the industry to achieve an ISO 9001 Standard Certification. In 1985 Team Safariland was established, the first corporate sponsored competitive shooting team in the industry. To this day the team regularly field-tests materials and products for Safariland, playing an integral role in research and development for new law enforcement and commercial products. In 1999, Safariland was purchased by Armor Holdings, Inc. Through the leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Warren B. Kanders, Armor Holdings delivered on their strategic plan for growth, acquiring many of the most recognized and respected equipment brands in the law enforcement industry, the first of which were American Body Armor and NIK Public Safety. Each successive company acquired by Armor Holdings brought with it an innovative spirit and a passion for its customers and products ABOUT WARREN BEATTY KANDERS Founder of Armor Holdings, Inc. and Benson Eyecare Corp., Warren Beatty Kanders is a businessperson who has been at the head of 14 different companies and is Chairman &Chief Executive Officer for Kanders Acquisition Co., Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Maui Acquisition Corp., Executive Chairman for Clarus Corp., Chairman at KSS Outdoor Holdings LLC, Chief Executive Officer at Safariland LLC and President & Director at Kanders & Co., Inc. In the past Warren Beatty Kanders occupied the position of Chairman for Federal Signal Corp., Non- Executive Chairman for Stamford Industrial Group, Inc. and Non- Executive Chairman of Net Perceptions, Inc. (a subsidiary of Stamford Industrial Group, Inc.), Chairman of PC Group, Inc., Chairman at BAE Systems Plc, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer at Armor Holdings, Inc., Executive Chairman for Clarus Corp., Chairman for Gregory Mountain Products LLC, Vice Chairman at Whitney Museum of American Art and Vice Chairman for Benson Eyecare Corp. www.safariland.com