Robert C. “Bobby” Hutson designed a groundbreaking piece of equipment in 1963 for military helicopters engaged in war zones in Vietnam. The device has been used ever since for quickly and safely moving loads weighing thousands of pounds under tense and often dangerous situations.
That product, the Reach Pendant, became a mainstay of the Mathews company Hutson founded in 1964, Ocean Products Research Inc., located in Diggs. Hutson passed away in 2007, but thanks to his sons James and Paul Hutson and nephew Jimmy Hall, Ocean Products Research continued and is now celebrating its 60th anniversary.
In March, James retired as president of the company, and Paul’s son, Sawyer Hutson, became the new president. Of the original board members, only Jimmy continues to work on a daily basis.
Sawyer said his grandfather’s penchant for innovation didn’t stop with his Reach Pendant. Instead, Bobby quickly expanded his company’s capabilities, fabricating a “special patrol insertion and extraction system,” or S.P.I.E.S., that’s used to get troops out of challenging situations quickly; Fast Ropes that are used to deploy troops from a helicopter when the helicopter can’t land; and an ABLE Eye terminator to fasten hardware at the end of the Fast Rope. He developed winch lines for utility company use, mooring lines and tow ropes for marine use, and other specialty items.
Sawyer said his grandfather’s main interest was the commercial fishing industry, and he was always working to improve the products he sold watermen. He worked with Samson Cordage Works to redesign such products as the purse line used by menhaden fishermen, said Sawyer, and he always made sure to carry a wide range of retail products that watermen could use, including gill net webbing; wire for crab pots, eel pots, and oyster cages; buoys and floats; oilskins and boots; lots and lots of rope, and all the other gear and accessories necessary for a life on the water.
Sawyer said that Bobby started out selling rope for commercial fishing uses. He worked as a representative for Samson Cordage and had a great deal of knowledge about the strength and capability of the synthetic products he sold. The military initially used steel cables for carrying cargo, said Sawyer, but the steel could shock the personnel handling it, and a solution was needed that would provide equal strength without injuring people. Bobby stepped in with his invention, and Ocean Products was born.
The Reach Pendant evolved into a military contract for all the rope assemblies that came after, said Sawyer, and pretty soon there were contracts with Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other major companies. Ocean Products even had a contract with NASA Langley to supply the ropes used to recapture the shuttle rocket boosters that fell into the sea when the space shuttle was launched.
Ocean Products continues to sell all of the products designed by Bobby Hutson, said Sawyer, along with commercial fishing gear and Samson ropes in a wide range of sizes and strengths for a broad variety of uses.
New president
Sawyer graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in biomedical engineering and worked for several years in Raleigh, North Carolina, as a consultant for medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. When the pandemic closed everything down, he worked out of Richmond, traveling when necessary.
When Sawyer was growing up, his father Paul was the production manager at Ocean Products, running the splicing and rigging shop. Sawyer worked there after school and during summer breaks, and he continued to do so after going away to college. When James decided to step down as president, it seemed logical for Sawyer to come back so the business could stay in the family. He and his wife, Kaitlyn, moved to New Kent so she could continue to work as a public school teacher in Chesterfield County.
Sawyer said he wants Ocean Products to continue to be a business that provides jobs and industry to the community, and he wants it to grow. One way he’ll do that is by offering online product sales beginning next year. While people drive to Diggs from Hampton Roads or Reedville or even the Eastern Shore to purchase products, “it’s a roadblock for somebody to drive hours to get here.”
He said he’s working on increasing efficiency by cleaning out dead stock and instituting a new computerized inventory management system. The company is updating benefits, he said, in order to make working there more attractive to new employees, including offering paid family and medical leave and retirement benefits. Finally, he’s attending festivals and other events so he can “get our name out there—get face time with the people in the community.”
All the board members for Ocean Products continue to be family members. In addition to Sawyer, they are James Hutson, Paul Hutson, Susan Hutson, Robin Hurst and Jimmy Hall.