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Chris Mc Loone |
In mid December, the industry got word that Spartan Motors had agreed to acquire Smeal Fire Apparatus.
Spartan expects the acquisition to strengthen its Emergency Response business unit (Spartan ER), ranking it as one of the top four North American fire apparatus manufacturers. The combined company will also have 47 dealers in 44 states, 10 provinces, and three territories, giving Spartan Emergency Response the ability to serve customers in the entire United States and all of Canada. Spartan completed the acquisition effective January 1, 2017.
It was quite a way to end a year that featured several other mergers and acquisitions (M&A), including IDEX Corp.’s acquisition of Akron Brass, REV Group’s KME acquisition, and TFT purchasing AMKUS Rescue Systems. In December’s 2017 outlook, no one we spoke to thought the M&A activity would cease, but no one was sure about the pace at which it would continue.
When you take a look at 2016’s M&A activity, nothing sticks out as a deal where anyone said, “Huh? That doesn’t make sense.” Everything seemed to be a fit, and the Spartan/Smeal transaction was no different. Smeal has long been a Spartan customer. And, Smeal’s acquisitions of UST and LTI (now LTC) in 2014 further provide Spartan ER inroads into the tanker/tender business and articulating water tower and boom platform business with LTC’s TeleSqurt® and Snorkel® products.
And, speaking of a new look for 2017, one of the people I frequently turn to for insights on the fire service industry had decided to retire in 2017 but is going to hang around just a little bit longer, and that is Rod Carringer, chief marketing officer at TFT. Additionally, Phil Gerace, who had been with KME for 25 years, most recently serving as its director of sales and marketing, has moved into the position of vice president of marketing for TFT and AMKUS Rescue Systems. So, Rod’s retirement has been, shall we say, “rescheduled” for now as he ties up loose ends at TFT. Additionally, Rod is very involved with his fire department’s fire station replacement. Hopefully, we can twist his arm to share some insight on that whole process!
Already for the fire service market, 2017 is off to a very auspicious start. It will be fun to watch where we go from here and, as always, it adds to the excitement of FDIC International.
Speaking of FDIC, you’re probably going to hear some new sounds as you walk by self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) booths. Make sure you check out our news section this month for information on a National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Tentative Interim Amendment (TIA) for NFPA 1982, Standard on Personal Alert Safety Systems (PASS) [2013 ed.]. NFPA 1982 (2013 ed.) implemented a standardized alarm for all PASS devices. However, beginning in 2015, the committee responsible for PASS began to hear of concerns regarding the new sound and how easy it was to hear it. This TIA calls for all PASS devices manufactured after December 21, 2016, to employ a more audible alarm. Although it does not require departments that use NFPA 1982 (2013 ed.)-compliant PASS devices to upgrade, the NFPA encourages departments to consider it. It’s hard not to give the matter serious consideration when it comes to firefighter safety, which brings me to my change for 2017.
I’m moving over to the safety side of the business this year, becoming one of two safety officers at my fire company. From the day I joined Weldon Fire Company, the leadership here proved time and time again t