Lucas Reeves, second from right, operations manager of First Aid Only, gives a tour Monday of its facility to Columbia River Economic Development Council officials and Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt, right.
When his chief competitor cut costs by moving production to China, First Aid Only owner Mark Miller could have followed suit and shipped his jobs to a low-wage locale far from Clark County.
Instead, Miller dug in and launched a long process of innovation, efficiency improvements and building new markets for his company’s first aid kits and products. On Monday, Miller hosted Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt and three economic development officials to describe a survival strategy that is rebuilding his company and striking one small blow for local manufacturing and American-made products.
“Now we’re really ready to grow,” the enthusiastic chief executive told Leavitt and other visitors after outlining his company’s three-pronged strategy that includes invention of humorous first aid marketeers “Dr. Biff and his sidekick Spiff.” (More on that later). Miller said his goal is to build first aid kits using U.S. products whenever possible, and to maintain assembly and distribution operations in Vancouver rather than sending them overseas.
Following Miller’s presentation and a plant tour, Leavitt said he was encouraged by First Aid Only’s increasingly solid recovery.
“I’m very impressed you’re able to maintain manufacturing in the area, given the current economic climate,” he told Lucas Reeves, the company’s operations manager. Leavitt attributed that success in part to the “ingenuity and creativity” of the company’s owners and staff.
First Aid Only, now nearly 25 years old, has some 75 employees and $18 million in annual revenue. Those numbers are down from 200 employees and $26 million in revenue during its peak years before the recession, and before chief competitor Johnson & Johnson began capturing the retail market for first aid kits with its lower-cost line of products coming from foreign factories.
First Aid Only’s new strategy, as described by Miller, goes in three directions. The company is building its commercial first aid products and services to meet the needs of businesses required to maintain first aid supplies. It has redesigned commercial-size first aid stations to reduce employee theft of medical supplies and streamline the process of restocking supplies.
The company’s second focus area is in providing emergency response supplies to American Red Cross and other emergency response providers. It is working with Red Cross on a color-coded rating program that helps business organizations and schools know when they have the necessary supplies to respond to emergencies.
Miller spoke most passionately about First Aid Only’s rapidly growing “Right Response” fundraising program, which is already providing $1 million in annual revenue, Miller said. The company has developed small, bagged first aid kits that it calls “Zippys,” to be sold by schools and nonprofits as fundraisers. The kits are more useful than the candy bars often sold for fundraisers and generate a higher return for the charity. Holding a box of 30 candy bars to illustrate his point, Miller said that selling just six first aid kits for $10 each, with a $5 return to the charity, provides a profit equal to that of selling the box of candy bars for $2 apiece with half going to charity. And nonprofits can make more money through referrals to other organizations.
The fundraising side of the business is where Dr. Biff and his sidekick Spiff came in. Miller said he recognized that first aid needed an image change, so he and his staff hired local comedians to play buffoonish characters in video skits about first aid and fundraising. Spiff and Biff have their own website and YouTube channel and are featured prominently on a Right Response website also developed by First Aid Only. Miller played the first video for his visitors and said more are on the way for school and nonprofit audiences.
In addition to reinventing its product lines and marketing, the company is restructuring its production and shipping operations in Kevanna Park neighborhood in east Vancouver. The “Henry Ford” assembly lines are about to disappear, Miller said, replaced by work stations that give employees more flexibility and variety in their tasks while increasing efficiency.
Miller said First Aid Only has the plant capacity to more than triple its production and revenues. He’s hesitant to borrow money to accelerate growth, Miller said, having worked hard to reduce his company’s debt. Now, he believes, the fundamentals are in place for the company to prosper.
“The key is to grow the business,” he said.
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