Firetect Flame Retardants

Established in 1973 and located in Valencia, CA, Firetect is a small, woman-owned business providing quality, green flame and fire-retardant products to a variety of commercial establishments. The company manufactures its own products and is a Licensed Certified Applicator of Flame Retardants worldwide. Firetect leads the fireproofing industry in quality products for fabric, wood, foam, cardboard and proven successful customized systems, excellent customer support and application training.

Primary products include flame retardant for fabrics, intumescent industrial coatings, saturants and coatings for decorative materials, including fabric, paper, wood, foliage, hay and straw. Each product has been approved by ICBO, City of Los Angeles, U.S. Military, Children's Sleepwear, FAA, ASTM, UL, State of California, New York City, and can be used to meet numerous fire standards.

Products are found on Amazon, Home Depot and other distribution markets for consumers and businesses. Direct orders are with Industrial markets which include Entertainment, Apparel, Hospitality, Home Products, Schools, Theatres, Military, Automotive and others. Firetect also exports its products to other countries including Japan, Canada, Thailand, China and Germany.


Challenge

Firetect is an efficient, small company that designs, produces as well as installs and provide training for customers on the application of its fire retardation products. The owners had been on a strategic path to growth with increased products and market applications. Firetect’s needs included increased brand awareness, market expansion, social media, testing, and recruitment. As the growth occurred, Firetect needed outside expertise and support for continual process improvements, export expansion support, facility expansion and infrastructure strategies.

Solution

CMTC began working with Firetect in 2009, providing support over the years through multiple projects, each one building upon the other to support the company’s strategies. CMTC provided marketing and sales services in the form of assistance in developing export strategies via the ExporTech program and, with the support of Department of Commerce partners, helped to avoid export issues that arose from inquiries for private labeling in foreign countries. Tactical assistance was provided for branding and customer outreach in two forms: CMTC reached out to local business journals for articles on Firetect and its products and also provided assistance through CMTC’s California Manufacturers Accelerator (CMA) BizBytes® program which included messaging design, customer and prospect list development and execution of digital marketing campaigns.

For process improvement, facility expansion, quality improvement strategies and employee hiring, CMTC has supported Firetect with one-on-one business advisor consulting. This assistance resulted in strategic approaches to enable growth as well as avoid unnecessary costs. CMTC’s California Manufacturing Network has introduced Firetect to its local EDC (Economic Development Corporation) and included Firetect in events such as the 91st Annual World Trade Week Breakfast that widened its network with the Mayor of Los Angeles and other notable attendees.   In 2020, Firetect reached out to CMTC for networking and strategic support in its efforts to secure business loans and investigate new facilities for purchase.   In addition, Firetect’s management team has participated in CMTC sponsored webinars, virtual peer groups and networking events to enhance their knowledge and to share their challenges, issues and opportunities with other business owners. Firetect relies on CMTC as a trusted advisor for the organization on its path to growth.

Impact

Through the multiple programs, projects and through expert and experienced guidance from CMTC and CMTC partners, Firetect estimates cost savings and cost avoidance of as much as 10%. Firetect has also seen sales increases of 20% each year as a result of improved marketing and branding, which has led to a 40% increase in jobs. Firetect has invested in its growth and continues to look to CMTC for expertise to assist in achieving the company’s strategic goals.

“CMTC has provided a wealth of advice for small businesses. Thank you, CMTC.”  

Kathleen Newman, Owner

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