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PETROLEUM DIRECTORY: Alaska Textiles’ Korbana line of apparel takes extra steps to meet protective clothing needs
Jessica Hess Petroleum Directory Contributing Writer
When you meet the team at Alaska Textiles, you sense something great going on. This Anchorage-based company has a solid past and the future keeps unfolding with intriguing developments in apparel manufacturing. Alaska Textiles thrives on deep-seated, quality principles, creating products of value, comfort, and protection for Alaska’s primary industries. The ever-shifting marketplace The parent company of Alaska Textiles, Alaska Cleaners, began in 1946 as an apparel care company and expanded into leather service and draperies. In the sixties they saw an opportunity to lease and service linens and uniforms for the hospitality, transportation and petroleum industries. Then in 1980 the market shifted. Customers began wanting to purchase their textile products, not lease. Thus was born Alaska Textiles, the sales arm of Alaska Cleaners.
Since its inception, Alaska Textiles based much of its business on the hospitality industry. Once again, the market place demonstrates mobility. As Business Development Manager Randy Siebert describes it, large hotel and restaurant chains making their place in Anchorage form textile buying groups. These mass purchases often come from outside the state. This market trend has inspired the company to shift focus, and it is anxious to do it. Alaska Textiles’ other fields of expertise provide unique and quality products to Alaska’s oil and gas industries. Safety apparel Siebert, Vice President Clif Burnette, and the entire team at Alaska Textiles have green thumbs for business. They grew the company’s safety apparel line from conceptualization into full bloom. Alaska Textiles began its protective clothing offerings by selling products from various manufacturers, such as Workrite, Bulwark and Topps Manufacturing. With the company’s aptitude for success, they were soon selling enough volume to have their own label.
Alaska Textiles began contracting with high-quality clothing manufacturers to have their label sewn into pre-made protective garments. This system formed a great first step, but wasn’t sufficient to meet Alaska Textiles’ goals of long-term customer satisfaction. The next step would be one distinctly upward and forward. The Korbana line The team rolled up their sleeves and got to work, welding their customers’ needs and Alaska Textiles’ offerings into a cohesive unit. With experience, research and knowledge, Alaska Textiles designated specifications for the ideal Arctic safety apparel. It was an Alaska-based effort with fantastic results matching what the oil and gas industry needs for North Slope work. They created a great combination of protection, comfort, and value.
This new product needed a new name — Korbana was chosen. It was derived from the Greek word korban which means literally “an offering gift to God.” Broken down more, kor refers to a person’s core and bana to protection — protection for the core of a person. The name reflects the quality of the apparel and its essential applications.
With the specs in place, Alaska Textiles began farming out the manufacture of Korbana apparel to contracted facilities owned by major garment companies. The impressive line of Korbana apparel, specifically designed for risky work in Arctic conditions, was finally available for the oil and gas industries. As Siebert explains, “we’re taking care of our customers because we’ve gone the next step to not just being a pass-through company. We went out and built our own product for the Alaskan marketplace.” One step further The story could have stopped here, but this company didn’t hold back when there was an improvement to be made in customer satisfaction. Subcontracting the manufacturing of clothing with Korbana’s specs to other companies couldn’t provide sufficient security in the supply chain and left gaps in customer service potential with regard to delivery.
To solve the discrepancy, Dana Martens, owner of Alaska Cleaners, Alaska Textiles and other Anchorage-based businesses, recently purchased a manufacturing facility in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. This factory is the new headquarters for production of Korbana Protective Apparel. Ten years ago this facility was the Calberta Protective Apparel factory that partnered with Alaska oil and gas producers to design the original North Slope arctic gear that is still utilized today. At one point the Calberta factory grew to be largest flame-resistant apparel manufacturer in Canada.
From its Calgary location, the facility sells the Korbana line directly to western Canadian and Pacific Northwest companies and to various distributors of Korbana products. Alaska Textiles is the Alaska distributor of Korbana under the new plan. Korbana has no intentions of selling directly into the Alaska marketplace — Alaska Textiles can offer the highest level of customer service as a distributor, something Korbana cannot match from its location in Calgary. Besides, Alaska Textiles and Korbana want Alaska’s marketplace for protective apparel to remain in Alaska — it’s healthy for the industry. Protection, comfort, value Korbana is still in the beginning stages of its story. But Alaska Textiles’ key principles of protection, comfort and value have been around a lot longer. Siebert explains that those are three areas in which “Alaska Textiles wants to be the frontrunner, the leader. ... Protection being the protective qualities of the fabrics, comfort being the nicest thing you can wear because you want to be comfortable while you’re working and all at the best cost.”
An important aspect of protection lies in compliance with NFPA 70E, officially known as “Standard for Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces”. This standard is published by the National Fire Protection Agency and applies to any workplace containing energized equipment. Through formulas, the arcing potential of a piece of equipment corresponds numerically to protective qualities in workplace apparel. Siebert states that Alaska Textiles is the most well versed company in Anchorage in regard to NFPA 70E, and the most advanced in bringing compliant protective apparel into the marketplace.
They know that being protected doesn’t have to mean being uncomfortable. A North Slope worker wearing the correct clothing provided by Alaska Textiles will be prepared for the harsh environment as well as any electrical risks. Agility shouldn’t be compromised either. The apparel allows its wearer to move and bend without holding him or her back more than necessary. Quality fabrics and fills, cut to ideal specifications, make easy wearing.
You can’t ask for a better combination in protective apparel than compliance to safety standards, comfort for the wearer, and value for the customer. Alaska Textiles strives for the perfect balance of all three. Promotional products Alaska Textiles knows that they can offer increased value by creating a one-stop shop, and that’s just what they’ve done when it comes to promotional items. The company can provide monogrammed hats, aprons, T-shirts, and more. Insignia can also be transferred to mugs, key chains, wallets or virtually any other item wanted for promotional or commemorative purposes. Alaska Textiles can even create a personalized online company store for its customers, linked to the company’s own website and offering any combination of monogrammed items with the click of a mouse.A place for great service One of the essential elements of Alaska Textiles’ services is the rapid turnaround. They have the team and the equipment to do whatever it takes for a quick response to customers’ textile needs. Consider also the secure supply chain to Korbana, the in-house factory for embroidery, the expert knowledge, and the ingrained desire for protection, comfort, and value, and Alaska Textiles stands out as a great place to turn to for oil and gas apparel needs.
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