 Today's pilots travel at twice the speed of sound, with their bodies bearing the extreme forces of nine times the pull of gravity. Ground troops, the land warriors of the 21st century, are confronted with high technology in deadly combat. While our firefighters endure the intense heat of high wind-driven forest fires. Each challenge is extraordinary, but protected by GENTEX products, they can survive and perform.
GENTEX Corporation makes materials and products that save lives ... the lives of some of the bravest men and women in the world. This goal of protecting lives has been central to the mission of GENTEX since its inception and remains so today as GENTEX looks forward to its second century of operations.
Today, GENTEX is an integrated life support systems company, designing and manufacturing products for human protection and enhanced human performance. Its various product groups are backed by extensive research and development capabilities, making GENTEX a world leader in both military and commercial markets.
The company's globally recognized products are designed to protect and allow wearers to successfully perform their duties while tolerating high G-forces, ballistic threats, crashes and ejections, high-temperatures, oxygen deprivation and exposure to chemical & biological agents. From pilot helmets and respiratory equipment to ground troop ballistic helmets and chemical protective garments, GENTEX equipment is engineered to work on demand every time.
The advanced technologies that constitute GENTEX's current product line are drawn from its lineage, the Klots Throwing Company of Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Originally located in New York, the company's silk throwing plant owned by Henry Durrell Klots burned down in 1894. In response, Klots' bookkeeper, Marcus Frieder, suggested rebuilding the company's production facility in Carbondale, PA to engage an untapped workforce - the wives and daughters of local coal miners. Klots agreed and named Frieder manager of the new plant. He was eventually promoted to General Manager and, upon Klots' death in 1914, was named President of the company.
During the First World War, Klots manufactured silk cartridge bags and flourished under the direction of Marcus Frieder. Marcus built or purchased several silk mills throughout the eastern United States and made Klots into one largest silk manufacturers in the world. However, with the advent of synthetic fibers as alternatives to silk in the 1920s and with the onset of the Great Depression, the company was eventually forced into bankruptcy. Despite all this, the Frieder family persevered and in 1932, Marcus and his son Leonard bought and reorganized Klots, renaming it General Textile Mills. By the time Marcus died in 1940 and Leonard assumed the Presidency, the company's textile expertise had led it to the development of engineered textile products for use in high performance applications.
When the United States entered into World War II, the company aided in the war effort by manufacturing parachutes for the U.S. Military. Eventually, it became one of the largest manufacturers of parachutes in the country, producing parachutes for cargo drops and naval mine laying. In appreciation for its efforts, in August 1945, General Textile Mills was awarded the Army Navy "E" Award for excellence in wartime production.
During the war, in addition to producing parachutes, General Textile also began manufacturing boxes to store and protect its parachutes during transport. These boxes were constructed of a new composite-structure consisting of a fiberglass mat impregnated with a polyester resin which was formed and allowed to harden into the shape of a box. Following the war, the government approached the company to determine the feasibility of using this same textile composite to manufacture helmets for the pilots of the new jet fighters being introduced throughout the military. In response, General Textile Mills produced its first hard shell helmet using its textile composite technology in 1948. The helmet, known as the H-1, was made for the U.S. Navy and the P-1 soon followed for the U.S. Air Force. Eventually this same technology was incorporated into helicopter pilot helmets for both military and commercial applications, as well as ground and tank crew ballistic helmets.
In order to reflect the new focus of its business, in 1958 General Textile Mills shortened its name to GENTEX and began diversifying its business into a number of protective products and technologies. In the late 1950s, the company began manufacturing aluminized textiles for use in high heat environments. Later, in 1969, Protection, Inc. of Pomona, California was acquired. Originally a helmet manufacturer, GENTEX's California facility was eventually transitioned over to the design and manufacture of aircrew respiratory products. Relocating to Rancho Cucamonga in 1992, GENTEX - Respiratory Systems continues to be a world leader in the design and manufacture of oxygen masks, chemical and biological respirators and associated products.
In 1972, GENTEX lost its leader of more than 30 years when Leonard P. Frieder, Sr. passed away, leaving his son L. Peter Frieder, Jr. to assume the presidency. Under the direction of the younger Frieder, the company continued to grow and diversify. In 1977, GENTEX bought JMR Systems Corporation and its capability to produce low-noise, high clarity microphones for use in helmets and other applications. Originally located in Derry, New Hampshire, GENTEX Electro-acoustic Products was relocated to a larger facility in Manchester, NH in 2006. The division continues to produce electret microphones and has expanded its product line to include boom assemblies, vehicle intercom systems and electronic sensing equipment.
Today, GENTEX continues its tradition of innovation with new initiatives in the areas of electro optical displays, chemical protective textiles and advanced laser eye protection. Such new initiatives demonstrate GENTEX's continued commitment to innovation which has made it a recognized worldwide leader in life protective technologies and products for over 75 years.
To learn more about GENTEX's history, please visit our Online Museum.
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