When conditions get really, really hot, Newtex Industries is there with products to deal with the extreme heat.
That includes materials for firefighting gear, insulation for farming equipment, heat shields for military aircraft and fire and smoke curtains in high-rises and shopping malls. The Victor-based Newtex is all about keeping things cool, or at least tolerable.
“We’re an advanced textile company for thermal insulation management and fire protection,” said Newtex CEO Jerry Joliet. “We’re big into smoke control as well.”
Joliet’s father-in-law, Bal Dixit, started the company in 1978. Dixit, an engineer, had set up in Canada what has been described as “the most modern facility in the world to manufacture asbestos.” When scientists discovered in the 1970s that asbestos was potentially a cancer-causing carcinogen, Dixit realized it was time for an alternative.
Dixit invented a substance called Zetex, which has been labeled the industry’s first safe and commercially viable alternative to asbestos. Dixit developed the technology initially in his garage when the company for which he worked was not interested. That led Dixit to founding Newtex, and eventually to Dixit’s being named to the Rochester Business Hall of Fame.
Newtex now has three divisions – performance materials, engineered systems and extreme protective material. The bulk of the business is in performance materials, in which Newtex manufactures thermal-management textiles used to make high-temperature fabrics, tapes, coatings, ropes, yarns and tubes.
The engineered systems division includes fire-containment covers for the cargo industry. Newtex’s trademarked FireCape was designed to contain fires and explosions caused by lithium-ion batteries and other hazardous materials. The extreme protective material division includes high-temperature gloves, mitts and aprons used by those who, for instance, work with molten metal. That division also includes fire and protection suits used at airports or oil fields.
“It’s very specialized firefighter material, not just ‘turnout gear,’” Joliet said.
Dixit, who now serves as Newtex chairman, continued to develop innovative high-temperature coatings over the years. Newtex expanded into China in 2000, a failed venture that led to years of financial problems, Joliet said.
“China sold our materials into the U.S. at lower costs,” he said, describing the years from 2002 to 2006 as “tough times.” Newtex cut ties to China and brought in Joliet to run the company in 2006. Joliet said a combination of cost-cutting, development of new products and investment in new equipment and technology restored profitability by the end of the decade. The newer products come with names like Z-Flex (multilayered aluminum fabrics) and Z-Block (a smoke and fire barrier).
Not surprisingly, the U.S. military is among Newtex’s bigger clients. Unbeknownst to Joliet, he worked amongst the company’s materials during his Navy career in the 1990s.
“I was aboard a ballistic missile submarine,” said Joliet, who has an aerospace engineering degree and a business degree. “We went out and hid, basically ... The engine room of our ship was coated with (materials) that Newtex makes, and at the time, I had no idea. The turbines were wrapped with our insulating fabrics. We (Newtex) are throughout naval vessels.”
That didn’t directly lead Joliet to Newtex, but it wound up being a neat coincidence. Other major customers include John Deere, General Dynamics and companies involved in the oil and gas, automotive and power generation industries.
Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.
Location: Headquarters is at 8050 Victor Mendon Road in Victor. Newtex also has offices in Connecticut, Kentucky and Singapore.
Executives: Jerry Joliet, (CQ) CEO; Matt Krempl, (CQ) vice president of operations; Kelly Goforth, (CQ) vice president of finance and business services; Bal Dixit, (CQ) chairman.