LSINC Corporation out of Huntsville last week announced that Opp native Laken Laird Patton has been named as director of operations.

Patton lived in several other states while pursuing a master’s degree and in her first jobs, but has been with LSINC in Huntsville for the past three years. She is happy to be back in a familiar place.

“I love the Washington D.C., metro area,” Patton said. “But I always knew that Alabama would be my end plan. I didn’t know if I could get back to Opp per se, but just being closer and being able to have a relationship with the people back home was worth it.”

LSINC Corporations supports commercial and federal clients with product development, engineering, strategy development, strategic communications, intelligence and counterintelligence and security services.

Patton’s new job will include supporting the chief operations officer, monitoring day to day operational systems and processes, planning, monitoring and analyzing key metrics to ensure efficient and timely completion of tasks, collaborating with executive leadership on budget and planning, as well as developing long-term operational strategies.

“For me, being at LSINC for three and a half years, the company has provided me with a challenging and rewarding environment,” Patton said. “It has given me a chance to grow professionally and with this new role, I am really looking forward to continuing that growth. Our company has experienced significant growth over the past two years, so with that comes new opportunities, almost daily. That is very rewarding to me.”

Prior to joining LSINC in 2015, Patton was deputy director of research and publications for Intergroup Services out of Baltimore, Maryland. Her background also includes time working in legislative affairs in Washington, D.C. Patton said that growing up in Opp gave her the support group that she needed to travel outside of the state.

“I was blessed with a wonderful education in Opp,” Patton said. “I have always had a very supportive community that always encouraged me to pursue my passion. There may have been some culture shock whenever I moved away to those bigger cities outside of the state, but I always knew that I had the support of people at home and that was really important to me.”

Although Patton had a strong support system, she believes that moving away from home empowered her to step out of her comfort zone.

“There was definitely a lot of stepping out of my comfort zone while I was away,” Patton said. “I had to see new things and meet with people that I had never seen before. I mean I didn’t have anybody that I knew within several hours of driving distance, so it really forced me to make new connections and it made me learn more about myself.”

Patton said that her best experience so far with LSINC Corporations has been seeing the fruits of her labor.

“I know there are a lot of people that go through sometimes an entire career and they don’t get to see or touch something that they have been a part of,” Patton said. “I have been able to see that on multiple fronts. From the engineering side I have been able to touch products that I had a hand in making possible. Even though I wasn’t the one designing or building it, I was a part of the proposal part of it where I was involved in communicating with the client, so I was a part of it from that perspective. To see happy customers is very rewarding.”

Patton earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Alabama and her master’s degree from Seton Hall University.

She married her husband David Patton in August of 2017 and they enjoy going to Alabama football games and exploring Huntsville.

Patton is the daughter of Wes and Deidra Laird of Opp.