Key Technology celebrates 75 years of innovation in the Walla Walla Valley

Business Reporter

Key Technology is a player on the global stage, but the company had humble beginnings, starting out of a small packing facility in Milton-Freewater.

The company is a leading global manufacturer of process automation systems and equipment for the food processing and other industries.

This month, Key Technology is celebrating its 75th anniversary with employees from all over the world gathering at the Walla Walla campus. Some are traveling a long distance to get to Walla Walla — from Mexico, The Netherlands, Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Columbia, New Zealand and Canada.

The company will not only celebrate its anniversary but also highlight several of its employees who have been with the company for a long time. Key Technology has more than 70 employees with more than 20-year tenures.

Key's history began in 1949, founded by brothers Claude and Lloyd Key and Francis Miller. There were 10 original founders.

Key Technology moved from several different production spaces as the company grew quickly in the first decade of manufacturing.

In the first year, the company produced roughly $100,000 in food processing and agricultural machinery for the green pea processing industry that is a staple crop of the Walla Walla Valley and beyond.

"Opportunity was everywhere," Claude Key once commented on the fact that he was an American success story.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, Frank Gilbert Lamb became involved in the newly emerging frozen food industry which became the focus of business and in 1950, he incorporated Lamb-Weston, which became a leader in frozen processing. The company now delivers french fries to more than 10 countries across the world. Lamb-Weston and Key Technology grew up together just a couple of miles apart.

Key Technology was initiated by the directors of Umatilla Canning to provide labor-saving tools for processing foods such as green peas, which were time consuming to prepare by hand.

The agricultural industry continued to flourish in the Valley and dozens of food processing plant locations between Pendleton and Lewiston opened with many processing peas, lima beans and corn.

In 1952 the company moved to a new building on Broadway in Milton-Freewater, and by 1954 the building size had to double. Two years later, Key moved to an even larger building.

The Froth Flotation Cleaner was the company's first major product with 12 of the machines sold in the first year. The cleaner separated waste materials from raw peas.

The Froth Flotation Cleaner was the company's first major product.

In 1962 Key was shipping all around the world. The company would then go through several name changes, mergers and acquisitions. In the 1980s, the company started to create food processors that would work on potatoes, which is now one of their main products that Key manufactures.

Key Technology received international recognition with the presentation of the President's "E" award for export expansion. In 1986 Key opened its European offices in The Netherlands, and in 1990 Key moved to its current location on Avery Street in Walla Walla. The company became publicly traded in 1993 and in 2004 they had dropped roots in Mexico by opening new offices.

Key Technology was presented with the President's "E" award for export expansion.

In 2007, Key celebrated its first $100 million sales mark and in 2018, the company was acquired by Duravant, a leading global engineered equipment and automation solutions provider to the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors.

Beyond making food processing efficient and easy, Key Technology equipment makes food safer by removing items such as glass, rocks, insects or foreign objects that might have been picked up during the harvest process. Key has such a global footprint that it is possible that every mass-produced french fry or potato chip has been processed on Key equipment.

WWCC Enology and Viticulture students process estate Cabernet Sauvignon on the Key Technology VitiSort optical sorting machine.

Making food safer is one of the reasons Daniel Leighty moved back to Walla Walla to work for Key Technology. Leighty grew up in the area with his mother and other family members having worked for Key Technology. Leighty, now the vice president of sales for the company, said he remembers seeing the different acquisitions, name and logo changes, and milestones the company has reached as he was growing up.

"My mom worked for Key for 14 years and my son worked with us while he was going to college," he said.

Leighty said he even had the opportunity to live in both Belgium and Holland for a few years while managing Key’s companies in Europe.

"I thought that was pretty cool for a kid from Milton-Freewater," he said. "I remember, as a child, going to Key Technology BBQ's in the Blue Mountains. There would be games and competitions like three-legged races. I still remember winning Key Technology blue ribbons back in the '70s."

He said Key has always had a great community and family atmosphere.

For Leighty, seeing the company hit so many milestones, including its 75th anniversary, has been rewarding. He said he is proud to work for a company that employs so many locals in the Walla Walla Valley, with an annual local payroll of more than $30 million. A lot of the engineers for Key Technology are graduates of Walla Walla University, and Walla Walla Community College trains many of the welders.

"We support the community, and in turn the community supports us," Leighty said. "That is a great feeling."

Hannah McIntyre can be reached at [email protected] or 509-526-8301.

Business Reporter

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