When the now Dearborn-based KLA Laboratories Inc. was founded as a retail store in Detroit in 1929, its specialty was public address systems, microphones, speakers, sound system rentals, and radio repair services. During World War II, KLA Laboratories supported the war effort by supplying audio rental systems for War Bond drives. By the late 1950s, the company was operating nine retail locations amid the boom of the high fidelity (Hi-Fi) audio era along with installing sound systems in churches, bars, restaurants, stadiums, and manufacturing plants.
Now celebrating its 95th anniversary, KLA Laboratories is no longer in the retail business. Instead, it’s a technology systems integrator offering design, installation, commissioning, and operations of networks and communications systems. The company also specializes in providing comprehensive audiovisual services from sound and lighting to production and execution for live events. Those can range from meetings and conferences to concerts and game-day support for NFL and MLB teams, including the Detroit Lions.
“Back 20 years ago, we were completely focused on audio and there were lighting companies and video companies that would come in—three different vendors that an event planner or customer that was supporting the event for their company would have to deal with, getting three different companies to come together and work together,” says KLA Laboratories’ President and CEO Matt O’Bryan.
He is the son of James “Pat” O’Bryan, who joined KLA Laboratories in 1947 and handled public address system sales before he began buying KLA stock and gained a controlling interest in the company in 1964. After Pat passed away in 1991, his wife, Norma, became president. Matt started working for KLA Laboratories as a teen and assumed his current position in 2002; he notes that his mother continued to provide advice until her death at age 98 in 2023.
Meanwhile, KLA Laboratories has made bringing audio, lighting, and video for events under one roof a priority. “As technology has expanded and improved, here we are now providing audiovisual services—streaming, lighting, and staging—completely turnkey events,” O’Bryan says. “For a corporate event, it might be an awards show or a meeting, or a national sales meeting. We will support it from a production standpoint from really being involved with helping with the creative side of the show … we’ll create video content for them, and we provide all of our technicians on-site to support that through the entire event,” he continues. “We’ll work with their team to make sure the PowerPoint works, and make sure things go smoothly for event planners.”
KLA Laboratories’ growth spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic when so many companies began streaming events. “And we still provide that as a part of our services because a lot of our events that are in person now still have a hybrid element to them,” O’Bryan explains.
The company currently employs about 300 and has expanded with offices in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Irvine, California. “We are providing these services more regionally across the country,” says O’Bryan, noting that he doesn’t take marking the company’s 95-year milestone lightly.
“I was raised in this environment—at the company,” he says. “I have never worked anywhere else, so to be able to carry the torch forward for my family and the KLA family … I’m really proud of our culture and what was really shown to me as I took over the company and what I’ve been able to carry on.”
