Content area
Full Text
GRAND RAPIDS - At a time when insecurity seemingly grabs headlines on a daily basis, he stands out as a security professional. And as a 20-year veteran of what is now a highly volatile industry, his calm and confident manner marks him as perhaps the most self-assured and relaxed man in the city.
Kevin Denhof is chief of security for the Van Andel Institute, having moved into that position nearly three years ago.
"I was one of the first ones in the building," he said.
Denhof, a native of Grand Rapids is in charge of the institute's contract security. His goals are to protect the assets of the medical research and education facility, a lot of which are intellectual property, and to provide a secure working environment. To do that, Denhof heads a staff of 10 and uses DuHadway Kendall as a security contractor.
"We do a lot of systems monitoring," he said. "I like to say that we have more computers here than we know what to do with. We have about nine computers that control different systems in the building."
Despite the recent national scares and color-coded terrorist alerts, Denhof said security hasn't gotten tighter at the VAI in the last year. Maybe a better way to phrase that is: The security hasn't had to get tighter.
"Not really. We're a secure facility and we've pretty much done things the way we've always done them."
Denhof was a natural choice for the VAI job. For most of his life, he has had an interest in law enforcement. First, as a criminal justice major at...