Gill sees double-digit percentages in growth
CHAMPAIGN – Champaign-based Gill Athletics has been “growing at a 10 to 15 percent clip for many years now,” company President David Hodge said.
Gill, which is based at 2808 Gemini Court in the Apollo Industrial Park, makes many types of track and field equipment, including hurdles, vaulting poles, javelins, discuses and steeplechase pits. The company calls itself the largest manufacturer of track and field equipment in the world.
“We have a strong emphasis on new products,” Hodge said, noting the company introduces about 100 a year. Among major recent introductions: a new Carbon FX vaulting pole (Weave FX) that incorporates woven carbon fiber, the “402″ Elite high school hurdle, and PowerMax training products devoted to making athletes faster and stronger.
Hodge said when Gill acquired Broadview-based Porter Athletic in 2006, the two companies adopted reciprocal marketing arrangements. Porter had been strong in providing athletic equipment associated with new construction at high schools and stadiums. Gill was strong in sales to sporting goods dealers.
Now both brands tap into each other’s marketing arrangements.
“It’s been a neat marriage, very exciting,” Hodge said.
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While Gill’s sales have grown, Porter’s have been flat mainly because some of its product lines – such as scoreboards and lockers – have been discontinued, Hodge said.
Typically, 75 percent of the products sold by Gill and Porter are made either in Champaign or in the Chicago area, where Porter is located. The rest are made in places such as Taiwan, China or India, Hodge said.