DeWitt firm to distribute armored glass products

A DeWitt company that makes portable bullet- and blast-resistant shields is hooking up with a Pennsylvania company to sell a line of armored safety glass.

Defenshield Inc. said it has formed a "strategic partnership" with North American Specialty Glass, of Trumbauersville, Pa., to sell the Pennsylvania company´s line of laminated transparent armor systems.

Defenshield and North American Specialty Glass remain separate companies, but Defenshield will become a distributor of the other´s products in addition to selling its own, said Theresa Brigandi, vice president of marketing for Defenshield.

The partnership will allow Defenshield to offer additional products to its military, law enforcement and government customers, particularly those that need bullet- and blast-resistant glass on armored vehicles, the company said.

Collins White, president of Defenshield, said his company has used North American Specialty Glass armored glass in its products for several years and is impressed with its quality.

"Their level of engineering expertise and on-site capabilities meets and often exceeds the requirements of Defenshield and our customers," he said.

White, a former Carrier Corp. engineer, formed Defenshield in 2002 in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to make portable shields to protect officers at security checkpoints at federal buildings and airports, for use in hostage negotiations and for combat personnel protection.

The shields what the company calls mobile defensive fighting positions have armored bases and tops made of glass that the company says can stop even a bullet from a high-powered sniper rifle. The Marine Corps used 30 of them at polling stations during Iraq´s historic national elections in January 2005.

Defenshield also sells a line of non-ballistic products, such as hand-held riot shields, for "less-than-lethal environments" such as prison and crowd control.

The company employs nine people in DeWitt, where it does designing and engineering. It contracts its manufacturing to other Upstate companies