Deadly viral and bacterial warfare. Mail bombings. Insurgents and terrorist attacks. Before the attacks of Sept. 11, these were speculative topics, remote possibilities at worst in most areas of the United States.

Concern for the general safety of America's work force became a far more urgent topic after the attacks, says Tom Gray, vice president and general manager of Clement Safety Equipment, Inc. There was a fast buildup of funds for deployment through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. That money, he says, is starting to come into state and local governments. Fire and police departments are ordering stock for their planned response to explosive, chemical or biological attacks on the United States.

That amounts to new business with a new urgency for a company started 47 years ago in Memphis, Tenn. Following standard marketing plans and selling traditional products was a way of life at Clement Safety, Gray says.

"We sell regular products like personal protective clothing, breathing apparatus and masks. But lately we have come to specialize in engineered gas detection safety systems," he says. "We have gotten a reinvigoration. I have to say that the public sector has been very big [in sales] in the last three or four months."

Clement Safety was founded in 1955 by Charles "Foots" Clement, a man with such large feet that they inspired his nickname.

Through the Sixties and Seventies, the company grew and became more fire suppression-oriented, Gray says. During those years, the company became members of the Safety Marketing Group and the National Safety Council, among others. It also forged lasting ties with local government facilities.

"Our close ties with municipal fire departments were built in those years," he says. "We still have those relationships, based on long-term dedication to providing service second to none."

In 1970, Clement's partner Ward Singer bought the company. Today, Singer's son, Jim, is president and CEO.

As the next two decades passed, Clement Safety personnel began to learn to sell and service the high-tech equipment systems available to solve ever more complex problems of keeping emergency and industrial workers safe. The company remained small and kept the welfare of their employees at a premium. Singer became intimately involved in the community, and the company has a large share of long-term employees.

"One of our salesmen, Jack Shepherd, has been here since 1968. He is looked to by many of our customers for guidance," Gray says.

One of those customers, Intex Plastics in Corinth, Miss., has relied on Shepherd's expertise for 25 to 30 years, says Tony Borden, plant administration manager.

"Clement is our sole supplier of hand and face protection [and] all our personal protection gear, including fall protection," he says.

Clement has a restocking plan with the customer in which Shepherd regularly fills shelves. Borden says Shepherd also provides training for respirator fit and lockout/tagout plant safety seminars. Both are OSHA-mandated.

"Jack does our product restocking here and is in the plant every week. If we need something, he always gets back to us the same day," Borden says.

In the last two decades, gas and microbial detection equipment began to become a bigger part of Clement's business. Companies like Draeger Safety, of Lubeck, Germany, make sophisticated mobile gas detection equipment that are some of the hottest products in the country, Gray says.

Today, the distributor is involved in complex total-solution safety systems that involve gas monitoring and air sampling for evidence of chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction. The federal government made civil defense its highest priority after Sept. 11, and that not only includes providing stockpiles of masks and body suits, but electronic testing and calibration devices.

His company has had a close association with the Memphis Fire Department and chief Sidney Minton for decades, he says. It is due in part to that relationship that Clement supplies the products for new FEMA mandates for the city of Memphis.

The personal protection industry is growing as more equipment becomes mandatory and plants stock more items for emergencies. Along with those products comes a need for thorough training, and Clement is in the forefront of customer training in the Memphis area, Gray says.

"We do surveys in plants as a detached third party, an eye looking for problems and solutions," he says. "Then, we explain what we are supplying and why they need it in the first place."

Most large plants have a professional safety officer. Small plants rely on the HR staff who must make sure of compliance but in many cases don't know OSHA regulations, Gray says.

There has been little OSHA action in the last two years, aside from implementing and then recalling ergonomic rules, he says. One safety area that is active is steel erection, and new OSHA rules require better fall protection. Gray says that over 85 percent of steel contractors are actively buying and using more fall protection.

A new convention center is being built and local government recently approved a $250 million arena for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Assn. Those projects will involve high steel erection and many other contracting jobs requiring safety equipment in the next several years, he says.

The economy, at least in his region, is looking brighter, even as competition rears its head.

"We have lost some business to integrators, but we've also become a second-tier supplier for integrators," Gray says. "Rather than fight those suppliers, we've taken the initiative to try and work with them. Some of them really flounder in trying to supply all things to all people," he says.

Having seen integrator relationships fall apart and being called to the rescue, Gray says that his company thought it fortuitous to offer to be the safety supplier involved in larger contracts before a crash of service occurred.

"There seems to be more small distributors working in a new alliance structure. Through the Safety Marketing Group, we work with 10 or 12 other members across the country in servicing accounts. We can acquire lines we don't have now," Gray says.

He adds that alliance building is a growing alternative to outright mergers and acquisitions between small and large distributors.

SMG is helping in another way, Gray says. The group is building an Internet storefront for its members to do online marketing and selling. Right now, Clement Safety has an informational Web site running, but Gray wants to add more features and services, including e-commerce.

SMG, he says, offers the perfect vehicle for that opportunity.

"Although we won't be entirely paperless for a long while, customers do want the convenience and speed of Internet transactions," he says. "They fear somewhat what I'll call Internet piracy, but have gotten used to EDI and computer networks in the past. What larger customers are demanding is trickling down to the smaller customers."

Gray pictures the economy into next year as a patchwork, with some customers coming out of the economic doldrums quickly, and others lingering or not making it through. Depending on the industry and what is happening with his customers' clientele, the economy should slowly climb back to respectability, he adds.

Pulp and paper, and metals refining are down significantly in the region. Gray believes they will be slow in recovering. The chemical industry is way down, as well.

There are many supporting industries for automotive around the area, and Gray stays tuned to the beat of those customers, large and small.

Other industries are coming back quickly.

"I see furniture in Mississippi picking up now. Automotive is heading our way, with more plants. Nissan Corp. in Canton, Miss. will come online this year. Hyundai Motor Co. is coming to Montgomery, Ala. soon," Gray says. "They all need my products."