Ballistic Recovery Systems (BRS), maker of parachutes for aircraft and other products, has renamed itself BRS Aerospace and has divided into three divisions: BRS Aviation (parachutes), BRS Defense (cargo chutes and aircraft deceleration chutes), and BRS Safety Products (reflective safety vests).
BRS does 60 percent of its business with the Department of Defense, 30 percent with aircraft manufacturers, and 10 percent with safety vest customers. In the coming year, BRS intends to continue its program to develop a full-airframe recovery parachute for the Cessna 206.
BRS officials said they have been hit hard by the recession, cutting employees from 227 to the present 91, but just had the best month (June) since October 2008. The third quarter was profitable for the company, but only by $13,770. In August of 2008 the company had sales of $1 million, but in December sales were $50,000.
The company is seeing signs of recovery because two aircraft manufacturers have increased production.
Alton K. Marsh
Related Articles
