JUNE ISSUE 2009
Published since 1927 by California State Firefighters’ Association
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INSIDE:
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Witness to the
Ricci case
Corporate profile: Ferrara
Corporate profile
By Gary Giacomo
Customer service and safe, solid
apparatus are the hallmarks at Ferrara
A
nyone who tries to tell you that American manufacturing is in
trouble needs to spend just a little time at the bustling home
of Ferrara Fire Apparatus. At the 300,000 square foot manufacturing
facility in Holden, Louisiana an army of 400 American workers are at this
moment putting the finishing touches on custom chassis and complete
fire apparatus for customers throughout the US and across the globe.
As fire apparatus companies go, Ferrara is certainly one of the new
kids on the block. Founded by Louisiana native Chris Ferrara when he
was a volunteer firefighter for the nearby Central Fire Department, the
company - now the largest private employer in Livingston Parish was literally started from the trunk of Ferrara's car. In 1979 Ferrara was a
welder/fabricator by day and served the community as a volunteer in his
The sprawling Ferrara headquarters as seen from Interstate
12. The plant is located on over 50 acres in Holden, which is
about halfway between Hammond, home of the
Southeastern Louisiana State University, and Baton Rouge,
the state capital.
off hours. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention, and Ferrara, drawing on his experience as a fabricator and from his wealth of mechanical
aptitude, built, along with other members of the department, a
tanker/pumper from scratch using a GMC chassis.
The experience opened young Ferrara's mind to the possibilities of
establishing a business himself. Although mom and pop apparatus companies are prevalent in the Northeast and Midwest, there was no such thing in
the Louisiana area. Ferrara, a hard worker since his high school days, knew
about customer service and its importance in any business, and so he started selling fire equipment - literally from the trunk of his car. Business
boomed, and he soon outgrew a barn behind his house that served as business headquarters. To his line of tools and equipment he also sold 3D fire
apparatus (a brand later acquired by American LaFrance). Experience selling
other apparatus, coupled with his hands on experience fabricating a rig from
scratch, planted the bug for entry into the competitive world of fire apparatus manufacturing. So, armed with a SBA loan Ferrara Fire Apparatus was
founded in 1988. In an industry where tradition sometimes trumps innovation, Ferrara has now cemented its place among premiere American fire
apparatus manufacturers. The company and its founder are justifiably proud
of their heritage and note that they are also a company of firsts: first on the
internet with a website and first with 24 hour service and support.
Today, drivers whizzing by on Interstate 12 between Hammond and
Baton Rouge can see a fraction of the 56 acre facility, that now houses
Rigs undergo tilt table testing behind the Ferrara plant.
A group from Marysville Fire Department confer with
Ferrara's technical team. The Marysville rig will be in
production in a few months.
Mt. Shasta Fire District's new rig undergoes pump testing at
a specially designed pond behind the state-of-the-art
Ferrara plant - plenty of water - a benefit of being located
in Lousiana's bayou country.
A recent delivery to Williams Fire Department. The Colusa
County fire department in north-central California has been
a long-time Ferrara customer.
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JUNE 2009
the 400 plus employees that churn out well over 300 apparatus a year.
In 1998 Ferrara entered the international market, and its rigs are now
operating in Dubai, Chile, China, Turkey and Mexico to name just a few.
The good works and rapid growth of Ferrara have not gone unnoticed.
Chris Ferrara was named Louisiana Entrepreneur of the year in 1998.
Ferrara in California
Ferrara rigs are in service in nearly every area of the Golden State,
from rural eastern San Diego County to the high desert near Susanville,
and from the streets of metropolitan San Jose to the narrow alleys of
downtown San Francisco.
During a recent visit, Chief Chris Baker led a group from Northern
California's Mt. Shasta Fire Protection District through a final inspection
of a new rig for the district.
Baker's experience with Ferrara is a living proof of the company's commitment to products and to customers. The chief's first experience with a
Ferrara product was while he was the volunteer fire chief at Fort Jones Fire
Department. The little department was able
to acquire a used Ferrara rig that had a
whopping 230,000 miles on the odometer.
“The condition was great for a rig with
that many miles,” recalled Chief Baker as he
and members of his department tested out
the new rig for Mt. Shasta.
When he made the move to Mt.
Shasta the relationship with Ferrara was solid. “Tom (northern
California Ferrara sales representation Tom Beilby) was willing to
come up and meet with us personally,” recalls Baker. Although Chief
Baker was already sold on Ferrara's solid reputation for quality and
reliability, he also liked the fact that his department would have
The California connection. Finalizing specifications at the
Ferrara headquarters is this group from California.
Counterclockwise, from foreground: Mt. Shasta Assistant Chief
Rick Joyce, Captain Joathan Duncan, Chief Chris Baker, Ferrara
Vice President of Sales Mike Doran (who incidentally grew up
and until recently was a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area)
and Ferrara northern California sales representative Tom Beilby,
who recently retired from the Wheatland Fire Department.
It's a long way from balmy Eastern Louisiana, where this rig
was born, to the 5000 elevation Crest Forest Fire Protection
District in the San Bernardino Mountains.
A workhorse of extreme proportions, Ferrara’s “Strongarm” tackles heavy rescue with ease. This rig is part of the
fleet in Instanbul, Turkey. Photo inset, the Strongarm at work.
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7
Corporate profile
access to a mobile Ferrara mechanic to assist in routine maintenance
or if there ever was a break down.
Mt. Shasta's sales experience is typical of the way Ferrara does business. Founder Chris Ferrara sums it up this way, “People buy from people,” he says matter-of-factly. “To build a great company you have to
have great people, and we have some of the best.”
Founder's name is on each rig
“We encourage customers to look beyond “the shiny stuff” says
Ferrara. “In today's economy fire departments demand that their equipment last longer. Our rigs have 500 pounds more aluminum than our
competitors and that gives us strength take can take a beating.”
When he says “take a beating” he literally means just that. On an
asphalt lot behind the factory Ferrara engineers built a prop designed to
test apparatus strength. (See photo on this page).
The plant grounds include a pond in back for pump testing and a
complete service facility for Ferrara and other brands of fire apparatus.
Under the main factory roof, raw materials, aluminum and steel move
from East to West through the cavernous Ferrara plant - chassis and body
components moving on parallel assembly lines that are continually QC'd
Three workers confer on placement of a wiring harness as
two others put the finishing touches on the interior of a
hose bay. With just over 400 employees Ferrara is the largest
private employer in Livingston Parish.
Drop over 65,000 pounds on a fire apparatus cab and what
do you get? Well Ferrara engineers did just that (and even
sandwiched a four-door sedan in the load too!). The sedan
didn't fare so well. As for the Ferrara chassis. “You can
still crank the windows up and down,” owner Chris
Ferrara says proudly.
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as they advance to the final assembly.
Like Louis Chevrolet and Henry Ford who put their names on every
vehicle rolling out of their factories - Ferrara proudly puts his name on
every piece of apparatus and personally inspects each rig before it rolls to
the customer.
“Our products last and they are safe,” Ferrara says proudly. Although
that wouldn't make a bad marketing slogan, Ferrara is sincere in making
the statement, and based on sales - Ferrara sales were up 40 percent in
2008 from the previous year. Their products seems to be what growing
number of customers are seeking.
Giving back to the community
Just off the main factory floor is a massive conference room that served
as a dormitory during hurricane Katrina. The meeting room has hosted NFPA
meetings and lectures by Chris Ferrara to local business students from nearby Southeastern Louisiana University. Although most of the Katrina damage
occurred south of Holden, 100 mile an hour winds ripped through this part
of Louisiana and employees went weeks without electricity. In a community effort to help employees, the company helped put generators into each
employee's home in the days following the Katrina disaster.
Following the events of September 11, 2001 Ferrara launched a
statewide“ bucks for trucks” program that raised over a million dollars to
send three Ferrara rigs to the Fire Department of New York. Ferrara
employees built the units off the clock donating countless ours to the job.
All of the materials were paid for through donations. In less than three
months the company delivered the rigs to Gotham. One replaced
Brooklyn's Engine 283 that was crushed on 9/11. The new rig is named the
“Sprit of Louisiana”. A rescue and rehab rig round out the donated trio.
Latest products
Ever an innovator, Ferrara announced the release of two new products, the Ember and the MVP, at the recent FDIC show in Indianapolis.
The Ember is a mid price range custom chassis incorporating styling of
the company's Inferno and Igniter, but with a slightly lower price point.
The MVP is designed to meet the niche that wants crosslays low to
the chassis frame, oversized compartments, short wheelbase and pump
and roll capability. The MVP features over 420 cubic feet of storage on a
183” wheelbase.
In an industry tied to tradition and where old line names mean a lot,
Ferrara has certainly carved out a sizeable niche in today’s marketplace.
For more information on Ferrara's complete line of products. Visit
www.ferrarafire.com.
San Francisco's Mobile Command Unit has been described as
“NORAD on wheels”. It is designed to be command central
during a major catastrophe such as an earthquake or terrorist incident.
JUNE 2009