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HANCOCK COUNTY-A Fortville manufacturer that won acclaim for making helmet pads that better protect U.S. troops from roadside mine blasts has had to lease 10,000 square feet of additional space to meet demand for its products.
Genesis Manufacturing leased space in two nearby buildings to supplement its 15,000-square-foot facility, said Genesis Vice President Thomas Ryder. The company uses its propriety technology to weld plastics with radio waves.
Recently, it landed a contract with Iowabased Civco Medical Solutions to produce sterile covers for instruments used in surgery rooms. The contract made it necessary
for Genesis to add a clean room to its main facility.
It also received an order for 22,000 additional helmet-pad kits. It has made the pads for Colorado-based Skydex Technologies, which has a contract with the military. A big fan of the pads has been Indiana U.S. Rep. Steve Buyer, a veteran of the first Gulf War, who has helped promote their use in Iraq after a number of soldiers suffered brain injuries from mine blasts. Doctors found that injuries were often worse among soldiers wearing standard-issue helmets.
Genesis also makes products ranging from cool therapy pads to silicon-filled bladders for hospital beds made by Indiana-based Hill-Rom.
Ryder said the 55-employee company is close to unveiling a proprietary product line. Genesis was founded in 1989 by Robert Smith, father of current CEO Dolph Smith.
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