July 5, 2004
Globe trotter | Tim Hussey and Hussey Seating Company are recognized as the Maine International Trade Center's exporter of the year
By Michaela Cavallaro
The core of Hussey Seating Company's business is gymnasium bleachers. It's a uniquely American product ˆ as Tim Hussey, CEO of the North Berwick company says, "Most people in the rest of the world aren't going to go watch their 12-year-old kid play basketball for two hours."
Bleachers, sold almost exclusively to American elementary and high schools, make up more than half the company's sales, which makes it all the more remarkable that the six-generation family business has gained a reputation as one of Maine's most savvy exporters. In fact, last month the Maine International Trade Center named Hussey Seating its exporter of the year in recognition of the company's recent deals in locales as diverse as Prague; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Belgrade, Serbia. In each city, Hussey Seating supplied stadium seats, along the lines of those it's made for the New England Patriots and many other pro sports teams. "Europe started getting really excited about the model of multi-purpose arenas like the Fleet Center, where you have 250 events a year," Hussey says. "They started designing facilities and, when they did, they started looking for American expertise."
The company, Hussey says, had been doing business overseas since the late 60s, a product of the belief held by his father, Philip Hussey Jr., that establishing a global presence would be key to the company's long-term success. Hussey Seating has had a European division since the late 1970s, and in 1984 landed a major, 65,000-seat deal for the National Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Tim Hussey says, the company supplied seats for indoor arenas in Asia, though that business slowed down along with the Asian economy in the mid-90s.
At the same time, the American stadium-building boom was heating up, so the company was busy domestically. About 18 months ago, though, Hussey Seating kicked up its overseas sales operation, in recognition of both the slowdown in American stadium building ˆ "The boom is over," Hussey says ˆ and the increase in European construction. On top of those external incentives to do business overseas, Hussey had a personal reason: "We lost a deal [in 2002] in Budapest that had been really close. It whet my appetite," he says with a grin.
That competitive impulse paid off, with the company landing three Eastern European deals in the last eight months. Of those, Hussey says, the stadium in Belgrade seemed the most improbable. The facility had been designed more than 10 years earlier, but was delayed due to civil unrest in the country. When the project got rolling again, Hussey was surprised to learn that the project's chief architect had traveled to North Berwick years earlier to visit the Hussey Seating showroom.
That didn't mean, however, that the deal was a sure thing. After the bid committee awarded the project to an Italian company and a Slovenian company ˆ whose bid Hussey Seating didn't believe met the project specifications ˆ the company requested assistance from Sen. Susan Collins, the U.S. ambassador to Serbia, the Department of Commerce office in Portland and the Maine International Trade Center. "We don't usually use all those resources," Hussey says. "But we wouldn't have gotten it without them."
Though Hussey, 48, won't disclose dollar amounts, he says exports account for 15% of the company's revenues. He'd like to see exports grow to at least 20% of the company's business, and he's looking to Europe and China as the prime targets. Eventually, if the China business becomes significant, the company would consider doing some manufacturing there. The country, he says, is a source of opportunity for Maine companies ˆ not just a monolithic producer of low-priced goods. "I've got two kids in middle school," Hussey says. "They're taking Spanish and French. I told them, 'You better start learning Mandarin.'"
Bleachers, sold almost exclusively to American elementary and high schools, make up more than half the company's sales, which makes it all the more remarkable that the six-generation family business has gained a reputation as one of Maine's most savvy exporters. In fact, last month the Maine International Trade Center named Hussey Seating its exporter of the year in recognition of the company's recent deals in locales as diverse as Prague; Vilnius, Lithuania; and Belgrade, Serbia. In each city, Hussey Seating supplied stadium seats, along the lines of those it's made for the New England Patriots and many other pro sports teams. "Europe started getting really excited about the model of multi-purpose arenas like the Fleet Center, where you have 250 events a year," Hussey says. "They started designing facilities and, when they did, they started looking for American expertise."
The company, Hussey says, had been doing business overseas since the late 60s, a product of the belief held by his father, Philip Hussey Jr., that establishing a global presence would be key to the company's long-term success. Hussey Seating has had a European division since the late 1970s, and in 1984 landed a major, 65,000-seat deal for the National Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Throughout the 80s and 90s, Tim Hussey says, the company supplied seats for indoor arenas in Asia, though that business slowed down along with the Asian economy in the mid-90s.
At the same time, the American stadium-building boom was heating up, so the company was busy domestically. About 18 months ago, though, Hussey Seating kicked up its overseas sales operation, in recognition of both the slowdown in American stadium building ˆ "The boom is over," Hussey says ˆ and the increase in European construction. On top of those external incentives to do business overseas, Hussey had a personal reason: "We lost a deal [in 2002] in Budapest that had been really close. It whet my appetite," he says with a grin.
That competitive impulse paid off, with the company landing three Eastern European deals in the last eight months. Of those, Hussey says, the stadium in Belgrade seemed the most improbable. The facility had been designed more than 10 years earlier, but was delayed due to civil unrest in the country. When the project got rolling again, Hussey was surprised to learn that the project's chief architect had traveled to North Berwick years earlier to visit the Hussey Seating showroom.
That didn't mean, however, that the deal was a sure thing. After the bid committee awarded the project to an Italian company and a Slovenian company ˆ whose bid Hussey Seating didn't believe met the project specifications ˆ the company requested assistance from Sen. Susan Collins, the U.S. ambassador to Serbia, the Department of Commerce office in Portland and the Maine International Trade Center. "We don't usually use all those resources," Hussey says. "But we wouldn't have gotten it without them."
Though Hussey, 48, won't disclose dollar amounts, he says exports account for 15% of the company's revenues. He'd like to see exports grow to at least 20% of the company's business, and he's looking to Europe and China as the prime targets. Eventually, if the China business becomes significant, the company would consider doing some manufacturing there. The country, he says, is a source of opportunity for Maine companies ˆ not just a monolithic producer of low-priced goods. "I've got two kids in middle school," Hussey says. "They're taking Spanish and French. I told them, 'You better start learning Mandarin.'"
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