Phenomenal job growth for West Michigan manufacturer of safety gloves

Business is good at West Michigan's HexArmor, a manufacturer of safety gloves and other related products.
 
"We are growing like crazy," says Todd Mellema, director of marketing. "In last year, we added 32 positions, 29 of which were in West Michigan. For the past eight to nine years, we've grown over 50 percent every year."

Mellema cites HexArmor's global presence, product line expansions, and aggressive marketing efforts as key to the growth, but says the two most important factors are the uniqueness of their products and their team. "We have proprietary technology that we use with our products," he says. "It is more cut resistant, thinner, and more durable than anything else on the market. We also have a great product development and sales teams." 

HexArmor now employs just under 100 people, and the forecast calls for more growth as the company enters new markets. "We started big in the recycling industry and then moved into other heavy industries -- anywhere there were a lot of hazards to hands. In the last three to four years, we've grown into the oil, gas, and mining sectors."

Mellema says the culture at HexArmor is like a big family who cares very deeply for the products they make and sell. "We all try to get our message out as much as possible. We all hear stories from our customers like, 'You saved this guy's hand. He now can come home at night and play catch with his kids.' We are not curing cancer, but we are doing things that are very important."

With more growth forecast, HexArmor remains in the hiring mode. Jobs can viewed on their site here. Be forewarned though, Mellema says they're very picky. "Almost every position includes an interview with the executive team. It's an entire day of interviewing."

To learn more about their firm, you can visit their site here.

Source: Todd Mellema, HexArmor
Writer: John Rumery, Innovation and Jobs News Editor