D3O is delighted to announce two significant appointments to our North American team: Shawn Connor, VP of Sales for North America, D3O LLC, leading the D3O LLC Sales function, and David Jackson, Program Manager for US Defense, covering US DoD Programs, OEM Projects for the DoD Marketspace and partner brand relationship business development.

These appointments come off the back of standout growth for the brand, specifically in its military and industrial applications in North America. These have been driven by partnerships with 3M to rethink personal protection in the Defense arena, and also with the International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) alongside Industrial PPE manufacturers to deliver a new industry standard for back-of-hand impact protection, ANSI/ISEA 138.

Bill VanMullekom, Executive Vice President of D3O LLC, says: “These appointments demonstrate D3O’s business growth and commitment to ensuring we remain the number one impact protection brand worldwide.

“D3O is seeing substantial growth in North America across each of our sectors including Consumer Electronics, Defense, Sports, Motorcycle, and Industrial PPE.  We’re committed to installing the right team on the ground to meet these demands.  Adding Shawn and David to our expanding US team, as well as our ongoing efforts to expand our Berry compliant production capabilities (including products such as the TRUST Stealth Helmet pads, TRUST LP2 kneepads and Decell Trust Sheet material used in back of hand protection, Load Carriage and Ballistic Plate Strike Face Protection) underscores our commitment to supporting our partners and growing new business.”

Connor brings over 25 years of experience in sales and sales leadership across multiple markets including consumer and long-term government development programs, with the last 18 years dedicated to the Defense and Industrial Workwear sectors. Most recently Connor was VP of International Sales at National Safety Apparel, and prior to that was VP of Sales at DriFire for more than eight years leading commercial and military sales.

Jackson has over 25 years of Defense experience, ranging from end user (8 years USMC Infantry), to law enforcement (7 years with SWAT K9), and after that a distributor to US DOD Ballistic / Electronics / and PPE Manufacturing. Jackson will focus on bringing technical expertise and end user insight to partner brands who seek to deliver the highest level of blunt trauma protection available in the market place.

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Polartec Eco-Engineering™ to set new standard for sustainable textiles including the creation of the world’s first fully recycled and biodegradable fleece, other knits, insulation fills and breathable waterproof fabrics

(Andover, Mass.) – Polartec, the premium producer of innovative and sustainable textile solutions, introduces its Eco-Engineering™ initiative to use recycled and biodegradable materials across its entire product line.

The effort joins other industry leaders and pioneers in sustainable textiles: Unifi and Intrinsic Advanced Materials. The collaboration combines a revolutionary CiCLO® technology with Unifi’s innovative yarn products to promote biodegradation of polyester and nylon, as well as applications in polyurethane, in sea water and landfill conditions. The goal is to create the world’s first fully recycled and biodegradable fleeces and breathable waterproof membranes, as well as other knits and insulation fills.

“By collaborating with the best in the business, Polartec is committing to the pursuit of a future where everything is eco-engineered to use recycled inputs and to be biodegradable,” says Gary Smith, Polartec CEO. “This is the culmination of over 25 years of Polartec investment and innovation.”

Polartec created the very first performance fabrics made from post-consumer recycled plastics in 1993, and began collaborating with Unifi in 2006.

“We are proud to be a part of progressive collaborations that seek to find solutions, through textile innovation, for some of the world’s most significant challenges,” says Kevin Hall, Unifi CEO. “By working with leaders from our industry, we strive to create innovative products that are synergistic with key technologies like recycling. We look forward to this journey towards developing biodegradable materials and for more industry partners to join the sustainable pathway.”

“After years of R&D to create a solution for biodegradability, we’re thrilled to partner with the inventor of technical fleece and leader in performance knits to bring CiCLO to market as part of Polartec Eco-Engineering,” says Andrea Ferris, Intrinsic Advanced Materials CEO.

The collaboration is an extension of Polartec Eco-Engineering™, a process that deploys recycled inputs, advanced production techniques, logistical efficiency, and rigorous testing and certifications to create an unrivaled innovation pipeline devoted to producing sustainable fabrics with elite performance characteristics. This includes OEKO-TEX® and bluesign® certifications across all Polartec facilities worldwide. The Polartec Eco-Engineering™ effort seeks to set a new, higher ‘triple bottom line’ standard for the textile industry: fully recycled inputs, fully recyclable fabrics, and complete biodegradability.