Reprinted courtesy of Industrial Distribution

Safety Today, Inc., a leading provider of personal protective equipment, headquartered in Groveport, Ohio, announced its acquisition of Colonial Industrial Products South (CIP-South), located in Deerfield Beach, FL. Safety Today will operate this as a full service branch with local sales, customer service, warehousing and delivery to service the South Florida marketplace. Effective immediately, the branch will be called Safety Today/CIP-South and will continue operating under that name through the rest of the year, with an expected change to Safety Today in 2006.
 
The acquisition of CIP-South adds momentum to Safety Today’s North American market expansion. At present, Safety Today has nine locations throughout the US and Canada. The company is one of the largest full service safety equipment distributors in North America for the utilities, steel, automotive, food processing, government and construction industries.

“We welcome CIP-South’s wonderful people to the Safety Today family,” said Ted Cowie, President and Chief Operating Officer, Safety Today, Inc.  “The addition of their quality staff and customers makes Safety Today a stronger company and allows us to expand our markets.”

The acquisition, said Cowie, is part of a strategy to find complimentary business partners with strong regional sales and to improve that business with Safety Today’s stronger resources. “We now become an immediately greater force in the Southeastern U.S. personal protection market, and CIP-South customers benefit from a broader service and product mix,” explains Cowie.

Before its sale to Safety Today, CIP-South was owned and operated by the Reggiani family. Rich Reggiani will continue as Safety Today’s Director of Florida Sales and will lead activities in markets in which CIP-South had its business focus. Micheline Botting will become branch manager for this location.

“With the new resources gained from the Safety Today acquisition, CIP-South customers will now enjoy an expanded product and service offering, including expanded product selection, strong Web and E-commerce capability, and catalog support,” said Reggiani. “We are excited about this opportunity to further support customers and expand our business.”

Safety Today, Inc. delivers worker protection programs and services including Total Quality Safety (TQS) programs, comprising safety training and consulting, customer-specific PPE Vending Solutions and supplier-managed inventory systems. Safety Today has been protecting workers since 1946.

For more information, please contact Safety Today, Inc., 2425 Spiegel Drive, Suite A, Groveport, Ohio 43125. In the US, toll free: 800-837-5900. In Canada, toll free: 1-800-263-1251. Fax: 614-409-7201. http://www.safetytoday.com/