Cutco Corporation, formerly Alcas Corporation, is the parent company of CUTCO Cutlery Corp., direct sales marketing company Vector Marketing, KA-BAR Knives Inc. and Schilling Forge. Its primary brand is the name Cutco. The company was founded in 1949 by Alcoa and Case Cutlery (hence "Al-cas") to manufacture knives. The management purchased the company from Alcoa in 1982, and the company acquired Vector Marketing Corporation in 1985. In early 2009, Alcas changed its name to Cutco, the name of the primary product.