About us
Company Bios
About
us
HISTORY:
Founded in 1960, Strong Enterprises moved from Quincy,
Massachusetts to its present location in Orlando
in 1976. Combining skilled craftsmanship with production
techniques and customized design capability, Strong
has been an industry leader in quality and innovation,
and has grown from a single sewing machine to a
20,000 square foot factory with hundreds of sewing
machines and state-of-the-art parachute equipment
manufacturing systems and technology.
In our history we have designed and built parachutes
from four inches (stabilizing systems for larger
objects in freefall) up to 64 feet in diameter.
The Strong tandem skydiving system revolutionized
sport parachuting around the world.
We are the oldest and largest manufacturer
of general aviation parachute equipment in the
United States, and our world-wide market includes
emergency parachutes for pilots and aircrew members,
skydiving assemblies, tandem parachutes for training,
military troop and special forces equipment,
as well as other engineered textile specialty
products.
The Strong brand name is recognized around
the world. You can find Strong products at nearly
every airport, military installation and parachute
and skydiving center. Our products have flown
on the early, pioneering space shuttle missions
and our systems are part of the planned exploration
of Mars.
CAPABILITIES: Unlike most parachute companies that make only
a single component such as a harness or a canopy,
we are a full-line, full-service manufacturer.
Beginning with raw materials of cloth, webbing
and cord, our capabilities and expertise expanded
from component parts to harnesses, containers,
round canopies, and ram air "square" canopies
and reserves; along the way, we added ripcords,
ring slots and ribbon chutes.
If it can be sewn or jumped, we can do it.
FACILITIES: We excel because we are more than just a sewing
or riggers' shop: we design, test and fabricate
parachutes as complete systems – and
we do it all under one roof.
Using our specialized 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-needle
sewing machines, including automatic, computerized,
and heavy duty machines, we've made everything
from one-off prototypes to production runs of
thousands.
In many cases our licensed parachute riggers
assemble and pack the system so it is ready for
use upon receipt by the customer.
Our FAA-approved quality control system meets
the requirements of FAR Part 21 and MIL-I-45208.
Our staff includes several experienced personnel
with more than 25 years experience in making,
rigging and using parachutes. Factory tours can
be arranged.
PRODUCTS: While we do manufacture cargo chutes,
stabilization drogues, recovery systems and aerial
delivery equipment, the main component of our
production line is personnel parachutes and tandem
rigs.
• nine complete parachute systems certified to Federal Aviation Administration
TSO C23b or C23c,
• 3 models of emergency bail-out parachutes
• 9 models of round canopies
• 31 different models of ram air canopies ranging from 120 square feet to
1,200 square feet
TRAINING: Our primary focus is manufacturing,
but if requirements exist, we can offer beginning
and advanced rigger training at our Orlando facility
by special arrangement.
We also offer Tandem parachute instructor training
at our Orlando plant, or at your facility through
our world-wide network of Tandem examiners.
MAINTENANCE & SUPPORT: Our licensed parachute riggers stand ready
to inspect and repack all parachute equipment,
and if repairs are required, our maintenance
personnel are equipped to perform any necessary
repairs or alterations. If the volume of work
warrants, we can assign temporary personnel
to your facility.
If you provide drawings, samples, or just an
idea, we can take your project from concept to
production. We always have something on the drawing
board, but we always welcome the opportunity
to discuss challenging new projects.
Strong
Enterprises Company Bios
Ted
Strong
started jumping in 1958, trained jumpers at West
Point until his discharge in 1961 when in that same
year he founded Strong Enterprises, a full line
manufacturer of parachute equipment now based in
Orlando, Florida. With over 4,400 jumps Ted still
makes about 100 jumps per year. A multiple patent
holder, Ted designed and built the first tandem
system in 1983, The tandem concept is now the most
common method for training a novice to parachute
jump. Ted still spends time behind a sewing machine
working on new concepts and is always the first
person to test jump his new designs. Most recently
Ted is credited with the successful design and testing
of a personnel on board vehicle, manned from aircraft
exit to landing, and development of a GPS Guided
Cargo Delivery System (The SCREAMER).
Candace Bennage, Controller, has been with
Strong Enterprises since October of 2003. She is
an avid aviation enthusiast and when not at our
facility, you can probably find her at an Air Show!
She is a member of the Kissimmee Airport Advisory
Board, AOPA and Women in Aviation International.
She is a remedial student pilot with over 100hrs
stick time. Maybe some day she will obtain her goal,
and get her pilot's license! Then she can parachute
out of her own plane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Frank
Deazley has worked for Strong Enterprises
for eight years. He is currently The Research and
Development Project Manager dedicating most of his
time for the last 4 years to guided precision cargo
delivery systems. He has been involved in all areas
of development at Strong Enterprises including work
on Tandem and Military systems, Pilot Emergency
systems, Sport parachutes and airborne vehicles.
His accomplishments include being a senior parachute
rigger, tandem instructor, AFF instructor and Airborne
Vehicle Instructor. Frank holds several Canadian
instructional ratings in skydiving and is a former
drop zone operator, and videographer. A veteran
of over 2,400 skydives, and more than 50 Airborne
vehicle jumps Frank has has won gold and silver
medals in US national competitions.
John
Makoski is a Sales Manager for Strong Enterprises.
He has worked at Strong for 12 years, and takes care of Sales and Service for all of our Products. John
travels around the country to Fly-Ins and industry
trade shows, manning our sales booth and educating
our customers about Strong's products. John has
made numerous skydives, is an avid surfer, and has
never met an extreme sport that he doesn't like.
Mike Rinaldi is a Sales Manager at Strong Enterprises. He has worked at Strong since December 2003. Mike can be found here in the office or out in the field with Strong Enterprises providing sales, service and support to our customers in the Sport, Tandem, Pilot and Military industries all around the world. Mike’s educational background includes: Five Associates Degrees, Seven technical certificates and is presently working on his Bachelor degree in Business Administration at The University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL. Mike grew up in the Bronx, NY and moved to Florida in 2002. He has been skydiving since August 24, 1999 (D-24196) has about 1100 jumps, a coach rating, and is a senior rigger.
Chuck McHugh has worked for Strong Enterprises
for 9 years. He is currently the Chief Inspector.
Chuck is a Senior Rigger, private pilot and tandem
instructor with over 3700 Tandem jumps. He is a
veteran of thirty years in skydiving with over 6000
sport jumps. Chuck has given many presentations
at PIA as well as Drop Zones across the country
on Tandem equipment and jumping.
Tom
Noonan is the Director of Tandem Training. He holds a B.S. degree in Marketing from Villanova University, and is currently pursuing a M.S. Degree in Operations Management at UCF. Tom has been skydiving for seven years, is a Tandem Instructor/Examiner, and is also a Senior Rigger.
Jon
Lewis, Financial Officer - joined the Strong
team in May of 2006. Jon is tasked with the day-to-day
financial operations of Strong Enterprises and brings
a solid business background to the Strong Team.
Before heading east to Florida, Jon spent 10 years
with Costco Wholesale, where he worked as an Inventory
Control Specialist at Costco’s corporate headquarters
in Issaquah, Washington. Jon received his B.S. degree
in Business Administration from Central Washington
University located in Ellensburg, Washington.
Melanie Johnson, Document control. Melanie comes from a solid skydiving background and she is responsible of document control at Strong. Melanie received her BS in Fine Arts from the Marshall University.
Greg Shelton, Quality Manager. Greg received his BS in Business and he is managing the Quality system at Strong Enterprises in compliance with ISO9001: 2000 and AS9100 (Aerospace Standards).
