Donna Johnson knows that sensors and other technologies developed at her company, Lawrence-based Pinnacle Technology Inc., could help bolster homeland security.

Now she knows whom to talk to.

“It’s a huge market,” said Johnson, president of the business at 619 E. Eighth St. “The only question is: How do you break into it?

“That’s what we’re looking at: at least making people aware that we’re here.”

Johnson and other technology leaders took a big step toward recognition Friday by welcoming Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting into their offices.

Bunting, who as Kansas adjutant general is the state’s director of emergency management and homeland security, dropped by Pinnacle Technology for a visit with Johnson and some leaders from Kansas University’s Remote Sensing Lab.

Their goal, like his, was to open the lines of communication on programs that this year will pump $21 million of federal grants into buying equipment, hiring consultants and otherwise girding the state against threats of terror, both foreign and domestic.

Such spending means business, and Bunting wants to make sure he’s aware of what’s available on the market to help the state brace for the worst — whether it’s monitoring livestock for intentional outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease or limiting outside access to power plants to prevent terrorist attacks.

Sensors he saw at Pinnacle Technology could be used to allow remote monitoring of sensitive equipment, he said.

Donna Johnson, president of Pinnacle Technology, left, and Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, adjutant general of Kansas, tour Pinnacle and discuss the company's innovative developments. Bunting visited Lawrence technology companies Friday.

The “SecuriKey” products Bunting learned about at Griffin Technologies LLC, 916 Mass., could be outfitted with thumb sensors, so that officials could carry sensitive documents in laptop computers without worry of a hard drive being stolen.

Without the key being inserted in the computer, and the owner’s thumb being on the key, he said, the data could not be opened, much less used.

“There’s a lot of talent here, and there are lot of people with ideas and equipment that would work,” Bunting said. “We’re all human — no one person can anticipate every situation. But that’s why we’re here: to learn.”

Bunting said that he welcomed overtures from businesses interested in landing contracts for consulting or providing equipment. He advises officials to work through their legislative representatives — state Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, organized Friday’s visits — to make their capabilities known.

But no matter who lands the contracts or makes the sales, Bunting urges all Kansans to stay focused on the challenges ahead.

“Homeland security is everyone’s business,” he said.