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No. 1 Force Protection Inc. |
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 9801 U.S. Highway 78
Ladson, S.C. 29456
www.forceprotection.net
Total number of local employees: 1,500.
Top local executive: Michael Moody, interim CEO.
Product or service: Armored wheeled vehicles.
Year founded locally: 1997.
The vehicles Force Protection Inc. creates in its Ladson production facility are used all over the world. The company manufactures ballistics- and blast-protected vehicles that are used by armed forces in Iraq, Afghanistan and other global locations.
Force Protection’s growth and success in recent years have been steep, leading it to the top as winner of the Charleston Regional Business Journal’s Roaring 20 Award. Between 2005 and 2006, the company’s revenue increased 294%.
One of Force Protection’s major changes was starting a joint venture company, Force Dynamics, with General Dynamics as a way to increase production capability, said Tommy Pruitt, communications director.
“That has certainly been the case as we have consistently produced record numbers of vehicles in 2007 and produced record financials during 2007,” he said.
Force Protection delivered its 1,000th Cougar vehicle under the Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected program in November 2007.
The company also expanded its production and research and development capability in 2007 by purchasing a blast and ballistic testing facility in Edgefield, S.C., a production research and development facility in Summerville and an additional 430,000-square-foot vehicle production facility in Roxboro, N.C.
“We continued to expand our customer base, delivering vehicles to the Iraqi Armed Forces, Canadian Armed Forces and the British Ministry of Defence,” Pruitt said. “We continue to increase production capability for all of our product lines and continue to build up the capability of the joint venture to meet the increasing demand for our vehicles both domestically and internationally.”
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