Ocean Products Research, Inc., will hold a 50th anniversary celebration from noon-4 p.m. next Thursday, July 3, at its plant on Butts Lane in Diggs.
The public is welcome to join the staff for a barbecue meal and tours of the facility that day, said company president James M. Hutson. His parents, Bobbie and Kathleen Hutson, started the company in 1964.
Hutson said his father, Bobbie, was a regional sales manager for Samson Cordage Works when, in 1963, he was challenged by the U.S. Navy to develop a helicopter sling with non-electric properties so military workers would not get shocked loading and offloading materials in war zones in Vietnam. The elder Hutson, who died in 2007, designed a synthetic sling with rope that he spliced and fabricated in a neighbor’s kitchen.
From that simple start, Ocean Products has grown to a company that has contracts around the world for specialty rope and related products. About two-thirds of the business is for the military and various companies, James Hutson said, while about a third of the business involves sales of various supplies for commercial and recreational fishermen.
In the early years, Bobbie Hutson ran the business, while his wife handled the books. Now, James Hutson is in charge of the business, with his brother, Paul S. Hutson, serving as vice president. One of their sisters, Robin H. Hurst, is secretary for the company’s board. Other owners include Hutson’s sister, Susan H. Thomas, who is not active in the day-to-day operations, and their cousin, James E. Hall, who is general sales manager. All reside in Mathews.
James Hutson has worked at the company for more than 40 years, serving as its president for about 25 years. He said the company fabricates synthetic net and rope assemblies for the government, military, marine, industrial, and commercial fishing.
Its signature product is the helicopter recovery pendant, which is designed to connect external vertical loads to a helicopter quickly. Double braid synthetic rope is used with a urethane shield to protect against chafing and cutting.
Hutson said that his company fabricates “fast ropes” so the military can use helicopters to place troops on the ground quickly in critical areas, as well as another specialty rope for quick entry and exit of troops. The company manufactures products for use by many special forces teams.
Ocean Products provides a lot of rope products, Hutson said. The public may know it as rope, but the military calls it “line” and commercial industry refers to it as “cordage.” Besides providing rope products to the government and military, the company furnishes marine fittings and hardware and specialty rigging products for government, military and special operations, Hutson said.
Rope in stock can be fabricated into winch lines for utility ropes, lines and slings for utility and other businesses, the company’s website said.
Ocean Products sells commercial fishing supplies from its Diggs site and at the former I. Cooper Marine Supply store in downtown Hampton, which Ocean Products has owned for a number of years. The stores stock items as varied as bilge pumps, wires to make crab pots, and T-shirts.
The Diggs facility includes a building where proof loading and break tests can be conducted, Hutson said.
The company also has a facility at Gwynn’s Island where it manufactures special products for the military, Hutson said, and which is used for general storage.
Including family members active in the business, Ocean Products employs 16 full-time workers and one part-time worker, Hutson said.