BLAZING MARKET.

• Author: PLOUFFE, KIM-DOMINIQUE
• Position: Pro-Safe Fire Training Systems Inc. - Brief Article

Fire as a commodity? It is to one Parry Sound company shooting for sales of $100-M within three years

Less than two kilometres into Parry Sound's industrial park is a fire-training company not content with annual revenues of $20 million. Over the next few years Gary Joice and three other principal owners of Pro-Safe Fire Training Systems Inc., plan to drastically increase that amount with an aggressive marketing strategy.

"I see a far larger market than what we have now," says Joice, a former electrician, police officer and firefighter from Barrie who saw a need 10 years ago for specialized training for firefighters in high-risk industries.

"With proper marketing and production expansion, I can see us up at $100 million a year within two to three years."

His strategy includes the recent hiring of two marketing specialists, attending key trade shows around the world, networking with firefighting organizations globally and creating a full-time maintenance division whose primary function will be follow-up work to ensure customer satisfaction.

Pro-Safe designs and builds fire simulations of mobile aircraft and other fire-setting devices that customers use for firefighting training. The equipment is designed by firefighters for their peers who know the characteristics required for realistic hands-on training of emergency response in industrial, municipal and military settings.

The company provides turn-key units and has professional engineers, architects, firefighters and instructors to assist customers.

"These simulators create all the fires you would run into in an aircraft situation," Joice says. Pro-Safe...