Duarte, Calif., firm sends electrical cable protectors to Athens for Olympics
By Kevin Felt, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Calif. -- July 13
Peterson's Yellow Jackets are Olympic-bound.
This will mark the fifth straight Summer Olympics at which the company's
custom-made Yellow Jacket cable-protecting ramps will be used. It is also marks
the product's 20th anniversary.
Peterson originally developed the product for use in the 1984 games in Los
Angeles at the request of television broadcasters looking for an efficient way
to protect exposed cables that would also safeguard pedestrian traffic, making
it the first modular, polyurethane cable protector on the market, said President
Tom Lubanski.
The products will protect about two miles of cables being laid down by
General Electric Co.'s energy rental business, which will provide temporary and
backup power for television broadcasts and various sites at the Olympics, which
begin one month from today, on Aug. 13.
General Electric officials confirmed Peterson is one of its suppliers but
declined to comment on why the company's product was selected for use at the
games.
The portable three-foot-long protectors, which can bear the weight of
semi-trucks and forklifts, are used to protect cables by major film studios and
at high-profile sporting events including the Super Bowl and NCAA Final Four
basketball tournament.
But Lubanski said that the Olympics are special to the company because of the
impact the games have had on business.
"This was just a start-up at that time," he said. "Nobody
really knew what they wanted or how they wanted it, but we stepped up to the
plate and made it for them."
The Los Angeles Olympics helped the company land its other contracts,
Lubanski said.
"Movie studios in L.A. picked up on it right away and that's really what
started driving our business," he said.
Though the company already does some business in Europe, Lubanski is
optimistic Peterson Systems' participation in the Athens games will give it more
access to the European market, which has "huge, untapped potential."
"As these countries become more and more developed, the need for serious
safety and industrial-type products of this nature increases," said David
Lasky, director of sales. "People have been using carpet, two-by- fours or
tape to hold down cables and protect them, but this (product) is the only thing
that is proven to actually protect cables from damage."
While the privately-held company wouldn't discuss financial terms of the deal
or annual revenues, Lasky said the order represents about 5 percent of its
annual sales.
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