No hazard here for new Milford company

By DAVID HULSE

MILFORD, PA — It’s high-tech, low-traffic volume, situated in an expanding market and it’s the kind of business that every local development agency dreams about.

In late May, Hazard Communications Systems (HCS) and Jalite USA opened its new headquarters and production site on Old Milford Road. The tree-lined property and the wood-sided 7,500 square-foot building, with its upswept design, could easily be mistaken for an upscale home.

But HCS and Jalite are up and coming in their industry, the design and manufacture of the graphic safety stickers seen on large and small equipment, public buildings and infrastructure.

Geoffrey Peckham, 45, founder and CEO of the 15-year-old privately held company said HCS has grown at a rate of 36 percent annually over the past five years and within the next five years he expects to double or triple his workforce and produce revenues of $10 million.

Locating in Milford was a joint decision between him and his wife, who is a physician. The former Wisconsin resident said, “We needed to find a place with a medical practice with an opening for a pediatrician, which was also within commuting range of an international airport.”

Peckham travels extensively for business. Aside from designing and manufacturing hazard labels, Peckham lectures and sits on committees for the American and international standards organizations that set the ground rules for the industry. These are the people who decide on issues like the symbol for windshield wipers on your car’s dashboard.

He says the biblical story of the Tower of Babel is an appropriate metaphor for the language differences that labels must overcome. Right now, he’s working on a project to standardize the symbols on ATM machines and on automatic defibrillation units in public places.

Highway signs are also a challenge. “You’re traveling at a certain speed and you have to learn them as you go. Hospitals for example: is the best symbol a letter “H” in blue or a man lying on bed? It’s all cultural.”

Peckham says the ever more integrated world economy, a heightened appreciation for workplace safety since the September 11 attacks and the company’s involvement in the standards process have all been part of the reason for HCS success.

Peckham has incorporated HCS design capabilities with a Japanese product, Jalite, which is a photoluminescent material capable of maintaining a lighted surface for stretches up 16 hours. It is being used to mark stair treads and evacuation paths in buildings. Jalite USA is the world’s leading manufacturer of signs using this technology. “There’s a lot of methodology behind these simple things,” he concluded.