Longtime OR employee, Army veteran TJ Laynor to head Sales and Programs for a division that has seen $5 million in R+D and manufacturing facility investment over the last 2 years.SEATTLE, Wash. (October 28, 2020) – After growing its manufacturing capacity dramatically by opening a new factory and increasing its onshore manufacturing jobs substantially over the last two years, Outdoor Research, Inc. (OR), a leader in the outdoor and tactical apparel industry, announced today it has promoted TJ Laynor to Vice President of Government and International Tactical Programs.

Laynor is a veteran of the Army who has worked for the Government/Tactical Division at Outdoor Research for a decade. In his new post, he will oversee sales and programs for the Government/Tactical and Medical PPE divisions. Outdoor Research has operated in the Government/Tactical arena for 30 years, building products for both elite units of the U.S. military and the tactical consumer market. Medical and PPE is an area into which OR expanded in 2020 with the onset of the COVID pandemic, investing in extensive new manufacturing equipment and technology to become a company that – since March – has built more than 6 million surgical, N95 and other face masks. OR also earned difficult-to-achieve FDA authorization and NIOSH certification for new products this year.

Contributing to its increased onshore manufacturing capabilities, over the last two years Outdoor Research has invested more than $5 million in improving R+D capabilities focused on these markets, including opening a second onshore factory in El Monte, California, while at the same time extensively modernizing and upgrading its manufacturing operation at its headquarters in Seattle, Washington. Outdoor Research has  grown the number of jobs in its two U.S. manufacturing operations to more than 500 employees.

Prior to Outdoor Research, Laynor, who joined the U.S. Army in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001, served in the military for nearly 10 years, completing a deployment in Afghanistan and two to Iraq. He and his wife, Dr. Samara Laynor met while deployed in Iraq. They have two children and reside in Tacoma, Washington.

“Whether in the mountains or the battlefield, the Outdoor Research brand has always been about solving problems and offering protection. And now we continue to grow with the addition of medical and PPE products,” Laynor said. “With the twists and turns that have come about through this year’s pandemic, this expansion aligns with the problem-solving vision of OR’s founder, Ron Gregg. I believe he would be proud of the unstoppable force that this team and this company has brought to bear in continuing to solve problems and provide the best protection available.”

Highly respected in the outdoor industry for developing functional solutions for extreme environments, Outdoor Research has a history of successfully leveraging the best commercial market technologies to serve the needs of the armed services and first responders. Over the past several years the company has conducted a comprehensive review of the U.S. supply chain and is in active development with textile mills and materials providers to expand and elevate the capabilities of products that are 100-percent American-made. That extensive innovation pipeline and network was crucial this past spring as the brand expanded into manufacturing surgical and N95 masks in a period of months.

“We’ve been investing in our Military/Tactical division and our onshore manufacturing capabilities over the last few years because we see the need to create critically needed, advanced products for the domestic market.” said Michelle Wardian, President of Outdoor Research. “The ability to respond quickly to rapidly evolving needs is paramount in the Military/Tactical arena, and we never could have imagined how much our domestic manufacturing experience would come into play in 2020 as the need for PPE made in the U.S.A. emerged. We are fortunate to have TJ’s highly credible experience continuing to guide our course forward.”

The Outdoor Research company mission is rooted in mountain environments. OR products are purpose-built to support the rigorous demands of our customers. Since 1981, Outdoor Research has engineered products to help outdoor adventurers respond to the challenges presented by the wild outdoors. OR’s decades of first-hand experience developing and manufacturing products that provide capability in uncompromising situations has provided the backdrop from which the military/tactical and medical/PPE teams were born. OR tactical products have been improved through cross-pollination from user groups, including the elite communities of military, law enforcement, and government agencies.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 28th, 2020 at 20:00 and is filed under Industry, Press Release. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.