Fast-growing election technology firm KNOWiNK has again expanded its C-suite as it prepares for next year’s midterm elections.
The Downtown West-based startup has hired Brock Killen for the newly created role of chief operating office and president, a move that comes after KNOWiNK in September augmented its executive team with the addition of its first chief technology officer.
Killen most recently was senior vice president of finance and business operations for Chicago-based Infinite Convergence Solutions, a provider of messaging and wireless technologies. Prior to that, he served as vice president of business operations for Redwood Shores, California-based technology firm iPass Inc.
Launched by founder and CEO Scott Leiendecker in 2011, KNOWiNK is a provider of election technology used by over 1,500 voting authorities in more than 30 U.S. states. The company’s flagship product is Poll Pad, which allows election jurisdictions to replace the paper-based voter check-in and verification process with an electronic alternative. In addition to Poll Pad, KNOWiNK has developed technology designed for monitoring elections, election reporting, managing election inventory equipment and printing election ballots.
Killen said he was drawn to the new role with KNOWiNK given his background in running daily operations at companies, particularly in the software and technology space, and the chance to help the company execute on its growth strategy.
“I’m always excited in the next interesting growth space and with all that’s going on with election security, I definitely see this is a huge growth area. It was interesting to me from that standpoint,” he said.
Leiendecker described the hiring of a president and chief operating officer as a “forward-looking” decision designed to enable the company to build upon its rapid growth in recent years. The 154-person company was named St. Louis' fastest-growing private company in 2020. It had 2019 revenue of $53.7 million, up from $10.2 million in 2017.
Personally, Leiendecker said the addition of Killen will allow him to be less involved in the day-to-day operations of KNOWiNK and place a greater emphasis on client engagement and technology expansion initiatives.
“He will manage our significant client base and help build and improve our support team," Leiendecker said of Killen. "This will allow me to focus on advancing our pace setting innovation, grow our clients and ready KNOWiNK for next year’s midterm elections and ultimately the 2024 presidential election."
KNOWiNK is currently pursuing expansion of its election technology products, placing a particular focus on voter registration. In 2020, the company acquired Fort Pierre, South Dakota BPro Inc. as part of its effort to bolster its voter registration capabilities.
