The safety equipment and supply industry hasn't escaped the wrath of the economic downturn, manufacturing recession and terrorist attacks. To overcome the obstacles, safety distributors rolled up their sleeves and got more aggressive about seeking new markets, creating service offerings and exploring new product lines and divisions.

According to New York industry research group Frost & Sullivan, the U.S. personal protection equipment market will post modest growth over the next five years. The industry generated revenues of $1.23 billion in 2001, and will grow 3.1 percent annually to reach $1.52 billion in 2008.

Frost & Sullivan divides PPE into four sectors: eye protection (24.6 percent of the market), hearing protection (17.3 percent), respiratory protection (52.6 percent) and head protection (5.5 percent). Despite the obvious need for safety equipment and supplies, industrial and manufacturing customers just aren't buying right now.

"We haven't seen much growth in the last six months to a year on the industrial side," says Joshua Goldstein, vice president of Elmwood Park, N.J.-based Olympic Glove and Safety Inc.

Goldstein says Olympic Glove has found new opportunities on the contracting side, thanks in part to its involvement with the World Trade Center cleanup efforts.

"We're doing more contractor business than ever," says Goldstein, adding that the company's new fire service division and full-line service center are also performing well.

In the wake of 9/11, safety distributors are also tapping opportunities in the homeland security sector. Olympic Glove, for example, has formed relationships with anti-terrorism training groups, and is considering hospitals as potential customers.

Nate Russell, president of Brenton Safety in San Francisco, also sees opportunity in the homeland security arena. Business has been flat for two years, he says, as agricultural and construction customers have bought less and less. The government, however, continues to pump money into bioterrorism-related programs, he adds.

Brenton Safety also moved into the fire service arena in 2002, buying an existing distributorship that is now operated independently of the safety business. The new division grew by 25 percent in 2002. The company also beefed up its technical, repair and rental services divisions.

In Davenport, Iowa, Michael Smeaton, president of Quad City Safety, Inc., says existing customers – primarily manufacturing and construction – have suffered plant closures, shutdowns, layoffs and the manufacturing slump.

To stay on track, the distributor has sought out new customers, looked for national account opportunities through its affiliation with the Safety Marketing Group, opened a safety work boot division and cultivated its growing retail sales.

Smeaton says the strategies put the company four percent ahead of the previous year, though it still continues to lose once-mainstay customers. He doesn't predict a quick end to the economic downturn, adding that in October a 20-year customer closed and moved to Mexico, taking 1,600 manufacturing jobs with it.

"Those types of customers are very difficult to find. I can't even recall the last time there was an announcement that a new manufacturing company was bringing 1,600 new jobs to our local economy," Smeaton says. "So, like everyone else, we end up taking business from another distributor to gain market share."

TEAR-RESISTANT, anti-slip tapes have foil backing; available in yellow, black or safety striped; stick to any surface including diamond plate; ideal for steps and doorways. Master Stop Enter 201

SAFETY GUARDRAILS protect against injuries and damage from fork trucks; heavy gauge steel, powder coated, pre-tapped floor holes; single post, single rail or corner railing. ITC Mfg. Enter 202

EZ-ON NIOSH-certified respirator has 1 strap and Flexwing™ fit; head harness and Dura-Mesh® shell; 95% or better protection against non-oil-based particulates. Moldex-Metric, Inc. Enter 203