SURF welcomes new contracts and procurement manager

During the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a frantic rush for N95 masks. 

Hospitals started running out of this basic piece of personal protective equipment (PPE) just as patients were piling up in intensive care units and spilling into makeshift hallway beds. In some cases, frontline medical workers began falling sick themselves as they were forced to reuse their old masks. As a senior director of procurement at a major medical supply company, Kathy Taylor was at the epicenter of this supply-chain crisis. 

“I was leading the company’s COVID response team, 48% of the PPE across the U.S. came through my desk for allocation,” Taylor said. She recalled being up at 2 a.m., redirecting delivery trucks from one hospital to another. “That was not fun. I remember saying I'd rather be back over in Afghanistan,” she added with a laugh. 

Taylor’s prior military service gave her the tools needed to manage the COVID crisis. During the final years of the Cold War, as the Berlin Wall fell, she was stationed in Europe as a logistics officer, commanding a company of 1,500 people. She served in Iraq during the Gulf War as a leading project manager and chief of protocol for Operation Provide Comfort. In 1994, she started a civilian career. Ten years later, in the wake of 9/11, she returned to military service for tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

“I handled mortuary affairs,” she said. “So, I handled all soldiers who were killed over in Iraq from the battlefield to Dover and then tracked them until they were interned. Yeah, that was an important job.”  

Taylor’s last military duty was working for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a special assignment. On July 15, 2026, the group Quilts of Valor recognized her service at a ceremony and quilt presentation at the Sturgis Veterans Club. 

Most of Taylor’s career has been defined by service to a higher cause. It makes her a great fit for her new job at SURF as the contracts and procurement manager. 

“SURF is one big team. It's very collaborative,” Taylor said. “It's fun to work here because you bring up an idea and people are like ‘yeah!’ I've had nobody push back. I like that it's all very collegiate at SURF.” 

All the purchasing at SURF, and all the business relationships and contracts with the facility, run through Taylor’s office.  And this is not a small number—SURF’s regional economic impact will total $2 billion this decade alone.  A significant chunk of that economic impact comes from SURF’s contracts with businesses across the state and around the country. This can include everything from local welders, plumbers, or electricians needed to maintain the complex infrastructure of the facility, to the purchase of cutting-edge scientific instruments required for research.

“It’s about supporting the science and education,” she said.  “The people are fantastic. I’ve never seen such a bunch of folks who really care about what they're doing. Everything from the hoist operator who does trigonometry like a college professor to another person who does CAD drawings that could be pieces of art. This makes it super fun. Everybody problem solves at SURF every single day. It's just part of the DNA here.”

Because every business SURF works with and everything purchased for SURF goes through her team, Taylor’s office sits at the crossroads of all the activity at SURF.   

“We like to support our local community, and we like to support small businesses in the state. We highly encourage small and disadvantaged businesses to apply, like those that are veteran-owned,” Taylor said. “If anyone wants to do business with SURF, they should fill out the form on our website, and we will put them on potential bid lists and reach out to them. They should also check our website for bids and proposals we post.”

Taylor lives in Lead with her partner Russell, who grew up in the Sturgis area and has always wanted to return to the Black Hills. She had vacationed and rock climbed in the area while growing up, and so the couple happily made the move to Lead a few years ago after a long house search. They purchased a historic house on Main Street in Lead and are enjoying maintenance and restoration work along with an occasional adult beverage on the porch during parades and events in town. For Taylor, the Black Hills is a little like a homecoming, and her own work at SURF is a new chapter in a long career of service to higher causes.