The Company was founded in 1926, and was originally known as American Brattice Cloth Corp. At the time, ABC offered one product - - jute brattice cloth. The jute fabric was flameproofed, cut to order and sold to coal mines located throughout the Midwestern United States. This material was hung in the mines to direct fresh air to the working areas.

Over the years, the mining industry became more mechanized and this resulted in more attention being directed to the health and safety concerns of its workforce. ABC kept pace with these developments by introducing many new products. This resulted in the Company introducing several products that enabled ABC to expand its product offering to tunneling contractors and shaft sinkers.

Today, ABC is a leading supplier of ventilation products to the mining and tunneling industries in the U.S. However, ABC has sold its products to mining companies and tunneling contractors worldwide. As a matter of fact, ABC has exported its products to approximately 35 different countries.

ABC offers the following general list of products to the mining and tunneling industries:

• Several grades of vinyl reinforced laminated Brattice Cloth, Curtain and Fly Pad fabrics.
• Three distinctly different types of Ventilation Ducting
  • MineVent® (layflat) Blower Tubing
  • MineDuct® (wire-reinforced) Exhaust Tubing
  • RigiDuct® (filament-wound fiberglass) (FRP) Tubing
• Vane Axial Fans
• Sound Attenuators
• MineVent® Tubing Cassette storage devices

By the late 1970's, ABC began to realize its heavy dependence on the domestic coal mining business required a diversification strategy. This point was driven home when the coal industry endured a 110-day long strike during 1978.

While the mining/tunneling industries will continue to serve a significant role in ABC's future, development of new market opportunities for ABC's products has provided solid growth and favorable diversity during the past 20 years. It is currently envisioned this trend will continue in the foreseeable future.

ABC began earnestly diversifying its business in the early 1980's. ABC first elected to enter the Industrial Textile Fabric (ITF) market. This decision was made based upon capitalizing on the existing fabric lamination technology ABC possessed at that point in time.

This endeavor required ABC to set up a separate sales and marketing team to promote these materials to distributors, OEMs and other fabric converters. This has been accomplished using both direct sales personnel and a network of independent manufacturers' representatives.

These 2- and 3-ply laminated fabrics and coated mesh products are sold for a wide array of applications. A few such applications include:

Initially, the Company sold its ITF Products primarily to commodity market segments. However, commencing in 1986, ABC chose to largely avoid commodity segments, and to instead concentrate on several specialty or niche market opportunities.

Today, ABC has two laminators producing goods for the ITF market and in-house use, and we are able to produce fabrics as wide as 85 inches. ABC also has four weft insertion knitting machines that produce the vast majority of the polyester substrate consumed in our lamination activities.

In the late 1980's, ABC decided to capitalize on its combined strengths of manufacturing and its knowledge of ventilation principles, by introducing a new line of Industrial Ventilation Ducting (IVD) products.

This product line encompasses both sewn and heat-sealed ducting/hose products. These products are utilized in a wide variety of applications. A few of the common applications include:

• Ducting for ventilating the holds of ships
• Hose for conveying particulate (dust, wood chips, etc.)
• Hose for spot or portable cooler applications
• HVAC ducting – typically used for cooling or heating tent structures
• Industrial fume exhaust
• Lavatory hose
• Manhole ventilation
• Pre-Conditioned Air (PCA) ducting applications (typically used to provide cooled or heated air to parked aircraft)

ABC uses a combination of direct sales personnel and a network of independent manufacturer representatives to pursue growth of this product line. Since ABC is vertically integrated in many facets of its manufacturing activities, it uniquely positions the Company to develop new products or to address special requirements of our customer base. This strength, coupled with over 75 years of ventilation expertise, complements the work of our sales team.

ABC intends to continue fostering niche business opportunities to the Industrial and OEM customer bases we serve. Our overall goal, however, is to be a low-cost producer of high-quality products for the mining, tunneling and industrial markets.

In terms of physical facilities, ABC has 68,000 square feet of manufacturing space at its headquarters, located in Winona Lake, Indiana, U.S.A. ABC also has a manufacturing facility located in Grand Junction, Colorado, U.S.A. This plant comprises 20,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

The Daniel and D. Blaine Mikesell families owned ABC from its inception in 1926 until 1972. In 1972, the business was sold to Peabody International Corporation, a Fortune 500 Company. At that time, the Company was renamed Peabody ABC Corp.

The Peabody years provided growth opportunities, as ABC grew the business vertically and undertook some acquisitions. Peabody also imposed good financial controls on the business. This positive attribute survives and remains one of ABC's strengths.

During the 1980's, ABC was owned by two other large corporations. During this timeframe, ABC divested two operations that did not meet its core competencies. The business changed hands again in 1989, as a result of a management-led buyout. ABC is now a locally owned entity. This change has fostered greater flexibility, which has enabled ABC to be a customer-driven business.

Dan Mikesell founded the business in 1926, in Warsaw, Indiana, U.S.A. His son, D. Blaine Mikesell, took over the reigns at age 25, when his father died suddenly in 1940. Blaine Mikesell was the president of ABC for 32 years.

In 1973, Robert M. Ellison was elected president, and remained in that position until his untimely death in 1984. At that time, Stephen B. Rufenbarger was named president, and he serves in that capacity today.

In addition to stability in Company leadership, ABC is proud to have average employee tenure of 10 years. Fifty percent of our employees average over 17 years of service.

ABC works hard to provide meaningful wage and benefit programs, as well as trying to maintain a family atmosphere that pays dividends of long career relationships and experienced employees. Our Company is only as strong as its people. ABC is convinced that its staff has been an integral part of the success the Company has enjoyed in the past, and it remains a key component of our intended growth plans for the future.

ABC currently has 75 employees. Fifty-five of these individuals work at our Winona Lake, Indiana, headquarters. The remaining 20 individuals are employed at our Grand Junction, Colorado, site.