CMC Rescue, the California-based company that’s dedicated to helping save lives and keeping people safe, today marked its 40th anniversary year with the introduction of a refreshed name, a new website and plans to introduce a series of groundbreaking products for both the rescue and rope access markets throughout 2018.
According to CEO Rich Phillips, CMC Rescue will go forward as CMC, a company rooted in rescue that is now equipped with a brand identity that accurately reflects the expanded range of its business, and its commitment to providing all work-at-height professionals with innovative life safety gear and training.
“CMC was founded as a rescue company with the broad mission to provide those working at height with innovative life safety gear and training to do their job safely and confidently,” stated Phillips. “Over the years, we’ve remained committed to innovating within the rescue market. However, as the work-at-height market has evolved to include other non-rescue disciplines, demand for our products pulled us into a number of new and growing vertical markets.”
Continued Phillips, “On CMC’s 40th anniversary year, we’re now updating our brand identity to best reflect who we are today and who we’ll continue to be tomorrow – a purpose-driven company that’s rooted in rescue yet forever committed to innovating within the field of life safety.”
CMC was founded in 1978 by Search & Rescue team member Jim Frank, who identified a market need for more professional, specialized emergency rescue equipment. In the mid-90s, after nearly two decades innovating in the rescue market, CMC saw an opportunity to apply its rescue experience and expertise to an emerging work-at-height industry – Rope Access. In 1995, CMC cofounded SPRAT, the Society of Professional Rope Access Technicians, which has developed into the industry’s foremost association for the advancement of rope access training and certification. Today, forty years after its founding, CMC stands as one of the most trusted, reliable, and innovative names in the rescue and rope access markets.
“In the early years of our company, each one of our employees doubled as a volunteer Santa Barbara County Search and Rescue (SAR) team member; we are literally a company founded by rescue professionals,” continued Phillips. “Even today, a number of our employees volunteer with local SAR teams and firehouses. Rescue is firmly rooted in our company DNA, regardless of whether it’s in our name. We’re a rescue company, but over the years we’ve become more than a rescue company – and now our brand reflects that.”
According to Director of Marketing Vickie Achee, while this rebranding is an important moment in CMC’s history, it’s the values, culture and commitments that stand behind the name that define the company. “More than any name, CMC is the sum-total of the many factors that have contributed to the company’s 40 years of success,” said Achee. “CMC is its commitment to its employee-ownership, its Made in America foundation, and its sustaining commitment to prioritizing product quality above all else. These are the driving forces behind our success and our subsequent desire to evolve our brand to encapsulate it.”
To coincide with the introduction of its updated brand, CMC is launching its next generation website and customer portal that redefine the customer experience for the industries it serves. At the same time, the company has also revamped internal manufacturing processes to accommodate growing demand while reducing waste. Most importantly, the company is slated to introduce a number of new products over the course of 2018 — one of which promises to be a game-changer in both the rescue and rope access industries.
“While all of our products incorporate innovative design and engineering, the highest quality manufacturing standards, and rigorously thorough testing, we don’t describe all as ‘game-changers’,” concluded Phillips. “We reserve this term for those products that stand to exponentially improve the safety and performance of our end-users and establish a new industry standard in terms of how they are used. Our last ‘game-changing’ product, the CMC Multi-Purpose Device (MPD), launched seven years ago and it continues to change the way professionals do their jobs; our next will launch in the coming months. It’s exciting that the first new products introduced under our updated brand will similarly impact both the rescue and our other work-at-height markets.”
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