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Glove and hard hat supplier doubles sales as construction and manufacturing grow

Dec 23, 2015 • News & Events
Robin K. Cooper, Albany Business Review

A rebound in the automotive and construction industries have helped Joe Milot's company double its revenue over the last five years.

Milot is founder and president of Protective Industrial Products Inc., a Latham, New York supplier of gloves, safety goggles, reflective vests and hard hats. His gloves have been worn by car makers, pipe fitters, First Lady Michelle Obama and the guys who apply the red wax to Maker's Mark Bourbon bottles.

Protective Industrial Products expects revenue will reach nearly $250 million this year, more than double the $113 million it generated in 2011. The company, which was founded in 1984, has a global payroll of 300, including 125 in the Albany region. Locally, employment has grown by one-third over the last three years.

Milot said sales have grown as the automotive and construction industries have rebounded in the United States from the depths of the recession and the 2008 housing collapse. As the economy has recovered, an increasing number of employers have invested more heavily in protective equipment, buying better gloves and opting to purchase gear such as goggles that do not fog up.

This year, sales are up about 7 percent. That number is lower than projected due to the downturn in the oil and gas industry. The downturn, which has been caused by record low fuel prices, led to a reduction in safety product orders from petroleum companies and the businesses they work with.

Protective Industrial Protects sells its safety goggles, protective gear and other products through a network of 2,500 distributors who work directly with large manufacturers and builders. Many the company's products are made in India, Malaysia, Pakistan, China, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The company also makes knit products in Indiana and Minnesota and does some of its logo printing at its 150,000-square-foot distribution center in Guilderland, New York.

Protective Industrial Products is doubling the manufacturing space at its Chaska, Minnesota plant that makes knit gloves used by customers in the aerospace, automotive, construction, food processing and metal fabrication industries.

The company has expanded its executive team over the last two years with new leaders in accounting, finance, marketing, product development, sales and human resources. A new chief financial officer was appointed in the spring. Now, Milot is searching for a controller to build up his finance team. The company also expects to hire additional sales staff as well as workers to increase the logo printing operation in Guilderland.

Milot said future growth likely will be focused on investments in technology to make Protective Industrial Products more efficient and to improve purchasing. The company will try to avoid what Milot describes as brick and mortar expansion.

Recently, a deal fell through that would have given Protective Industrial Products access to new customers in hardware stores and other big box retailers.

Milot completed a refinancing of his company this month, which has worked with lender M&T Bank for the last seven years. Milot expanded that relationship and worked with JP Morgan Chase to set up a large credit line that will position the company to grow over the next several years.

Milot declined to specify how much money that Protective Industrial Products has access to, but he said it will help as the company negotiates a new "partnership" that Milot expects to complete in 2016.

Milot said one of the biggest drivers of Protective Industrial Products' growth has been increasing revenue by gaining market share in an industry that has gone through some consolidation. One of the larger acquisitions in the industry came this summer when consumer goods conglomerate 3M Co. announced plans to buy Capital Safety in Minnesota for $2.5 billion. Capital Safety, a manufacturer of fall protection gear, was owned by KKR & Co., a New York City private-equity firm.

SOURCE: http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/morning_call/2015/12/glove-and-hard-hat-supplier-doubles-sales.html