Recently, Allegion surpassed a milestone “birthday.” On Dec. 1, 2023, we celebrated 10 years as a standalone, pure-play global security solutions provider.  

Today, we are the top brands in security, pursuing a vision of enabling seamless access and a safer world. And in a decade of Allegion, there’s much for our team members to be proud of: We’ve established a new culture, based on shared values, engagement, safety and a growth mindset. We’ve invested in our people and in our brands, building a company that’s financially strong. We’ve made a positive impact on our local communities through volunteerism, donations and sustainability. We’ve added new businesses to the Allegion family – and we’ve done all of this while driving product innovations to meet customer needs. 

We’ve also strengthened our Indiana legacy. While we’re a global company that’s based in Dublin, Ireland, our Allegion Americas regional headquarters have been in Carmel since Day 1 – and our local history actually goes back more than a century. We have a strong manufacturing footprint in Indiana with many incredible customers and supply chain partners, and we have an impressive technical talent base here, too.  

Read on for 10 interesting facts about Allegion’s history in the Hoosier State. 

  1. Growth of Allegion’s Indiana Footprint: When Allegion first became a standalone company (after spinning off from Ingersoll Rand in 2013), we employed approximately 900 people in Indiana (and 7,600 globally). Today, we employ more than 1,600 across the state (more than 12,000 globally). This Indiana footprint includes three manufacturing sites and two office locations, as well as employees who work remotely. Our Carmel, Indiana, office has always served as our regional headquarters for Allegion Americas. Serving our customers in Indiana extends beyond our own sites and includes the many local distributors, locksmiths and security integrators that supply, install and support Allegion products in the community. Our success and growth are directly linked to these long-standing local relationships, which extend beyond even the recent 10-year history of Allegion.   
  1. Roots Dating back to the Early 1900s: Allegion’s Indiana story starts with one of our leading global brands – Von Duprin. Founder Carl Prinzler managed the Vonnegut Hardware Company in Indianapolis when, in 1903, a theater fire broke out in neighboring Chicago, killing 600 people. Those patrons had been locked in the theater via the building’s exterior doors because of a tactic intended to prevent non-paying guests from sneaking in. Prinzler was supposed to attend the show and, although he didn’t, was haunted by the tragedy that occurred. An innovator, he partnered with Henry DuPont to develop the first-ever “panic bar” egress device, enabling people to exit from doors that are locked on the outside. They officially founded “Von Duprin” (named for Vonnegut, DuPont and Prinzler) in 1908 – and today Von Duprin exit devices are still manufactured in Indianapolis, then shipped all over the world. 
  1. Leading the Way with Manufacturing Day: In 2015, Allegion hosted our first-ever Manufacturing Day event, opening our doors in Indianapolis to students and communities in an effort to inspire the next generation of manufacturers. We’ve celebrated Manufacturing Day locally in October every year since; plus, we’ve expanded the effort to our other U.S. manufacturing locations. Even amidst the pandemic (in both 2020 and 2021), we held virtual field trips for students. After a return to in-person events (in 2022 and 2023), seven of our manufacturing facilities invited students and government officials to their plants for tours, panel discussions, guest speakers and hands-on activities. In addition, we hosted a national event online in 2023, featuring some of our talented Indiana manufacturing employees.    
  1. Our Indiana-Based Venture Fund: Back in 2018, Allegion launched a $50 million corporate venture fund to accelerate the growth of early-stage companies with entrepreneurs who share our pioneering spirit: Allegion Ventures. While Allegion Ventures investments follow innovative technologies in digital and physical access and are not bound to any specific geography, the investment team is based in Indiana, and many of the talented associates are, too. In 2021, a second fund of $100 million launched under this team, and the portfolio today boasts forerunners in emerging technology focused on seamless access user experiences.    
  1. Incredible Technical Talent: Allegion has incredible technical talent locally. That’s why, in 2019, we opened a new location – our Hague Road Technical Center. Today, this Indianapolis location serves as the R&D center for our Americas business and is home to more than 100 engineers and product assurance experts. It also houses a state-of-the-art lab with cutting-edge technology that these team members use for new product validation testing as well as compliance testing for safety and product performance certifications. Remember, we develop and build security solutions that help keep people safe where they live, learn, work and connect – so our products must be reliable, making the work we do at Hague Road (and our other Indiana sites) critical. 
  1. Inaugural DEI Champion: In 2021, Allegion was humbled to receive the Indiana Chamber of Commerce’s inaugural Jackson Lewis Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Champion Award, a statewide honor that recognizes an organization making ardent strides to become a more equitable workplace. Since our beginning, Allegion has held fast to a set of deeply rooted values that have become a way of life for our team members across Indiana. Values like: Serve others, not yourself. Do the right thing. Be empowered and accountable. Enjoy what you do and celebrate who we are. These values, as well as what our team has developed as the “Allegion Leadership Behaviors,” have the foundations of DEI embedded into them. 
  1. Addition of STANLEY Access Technologies: In 2022, Allegion made its largest acquisition to date – adding STANLEY Access Technologies to our family of brands. Globally, this advanced our business strategy and broadened how we can serve our customers. And in Indiana, it expanded our footprint. The business is a leading manufacturer, installer and service provider of automatic doors in North America – and those doors are manufactured in two locations, one of which is Greenfield, Indiana. We’re proud to have added the dedicated employees in Greenfield to our team, as they bring immense talent and expertise in safety, security and service. In addition, our Greenfield operations house our state-of-the-art national training facility, where our technicians and trainees can learn on our full portfolio of automatic doors.  
  1. Mission 41K Talent Champion: We were honored with a 2023 TechPoint Mira award for our strategies to attract information technology (IT) talent including skills-based recruiting and hiring, offering adult apprenticeships and training, ensuring candidates with nontraditional educational backgrounds are considered for jobs and partnering with local schools and nonprofits to build talent pipelines and fill IT “bench roles.”  
  1. Long-Term Support of Greater Indianapolis Habitat for Humanity: Many Allegion employees have been long-time volunteers for Habitat for Humanity across the globe. This is true for our team in Indiana, too. In fact, we have team members who have served with Habitat since before we became a standalone company 10 years ago – and, in 2023, we celebrated our 15th build together. This is again an extension of our core values (“Serve others, not yourself”), which have always been the north star of our company.  
  1. First On-Site Wildlife Certification: A recent renovation at our manufacturing operations in Indianapolis strategically included the design of a natural, pollinator friendly break area, and it has received a Wildlife Habitat Council Conservation Certification®. This means the unique space not only meets employee needs, but also improves biodiversity at this site and positively impacts Allegion’s broader sustainability footprint. This Indianapolis unique space is serving as an inspiration for other Allegion sites across the globe.    

Simply put, Allegion’s roots in Indiana run deep over the past century, but the last 10 years have certainly provided countless opportunities for our team members locally to innovate and help deliver peace of mind to millions around the world through our mission of pioneering safety.  

As we look ahead to the next 10 years, we’re grateful for the support of our local communities.