These days, Frederick J. “Rick” Hodges III is spending a lot of time in booths at trade shows around the country, surrounded by ribbons and trophies.
One week, it’s the U.S. Equestrian Federation in Kentucky; another week, it’s the ASCD annual conference for educators in Texas.
Hodges is the president of Hodges Badge Co. Inc., a Portsmouth-based manufacturer that churns out ribbons and other awards by the millions every year for everything from horse and dog shows to corporate functions.
Yes, the economy is down, and sales are flat, but Hodges – the fourth generation to lead the family business – isn’t waiting for things to rebound.
“We’re trying to make sure we’re in front of people as the recovery starts,” Hodges said recently.
In addition to making the rounds at trade shows, Hodges is overhauling his Web site. Traditionally, the company’s mail-order catalog was the biggest driver of sales. Now it’s the Internet, and Hodges’ wants a top-of-the-line presence in cyberspace.
Still, Hodges Badge’s products remain decidedly low-tech.
The company’s factory uses about 12 million yards of ribbon annually to create rosette badges that are awarded to winners of various types of competitions.
Some segments have been shrinking in recent years, such as ribbons for educational uses like good grades, science fairs and athletic teams. With deep budget cuts, schools have reduced the number of awards they hand out.
Other segments have been more promising. Agility dog shows have been growing in popularity, and Hodges Badge’s sales along with it.
Then there are the horse shows. Hodges figures about 40 percent of the company’s sales are related to equestrian events.
It wasn’t always like that.
The company has been around since 1920, founded in Milford, N.H., by William Hodges – the great-grandfather of the current president.
Back then, fraternal lodges were popular, and they all needed decorative badges for club events. Business was brisk enough to keep the company afloat.
By the late 1930s, when riding horses became more of a recreational pastime for wealthy Americans, horse shows grew popular, and Hodges Badge filled the need for fancy ribbons and rosettes. The company eventually moved to Boston.
Nowadays, the company does much more than producing award ribbons. It sells trophies and medals – purchased from other companies – but also can do etching on metal bowls, trays and plates.
Hodges sells products wholesale, but many of the ribbons are custom-made for individual customers.
The biggest example of Hodges’ custom work was a three-foot gold, maroon and grey rosette that Hodges Badge produced for the Oregon State Pony of The Americas Club last year.
Sales were down about 10 percent in 2009, not bad considering how other companies have been hurting, Hodges said. And the downturn has provided an opportunity to tweak more efficiency from the operation.
The company has worked with Rhode Island Manufacturing Extension Services about operating the factory more productively, rearranging the manufacturing floor to cut down on time-killers such as workers having to walk to the far-reaches of the building.
“We made some adjustments,” Hodges said. “We’ve tightened the ship a lot.”
The company is also preparing to build a 149-foot wind turbine this spring that will make Hodges Badge the first factory in the state powered entirely by wind.
Another change is that Frederick Hodges is now overseeing sales and marketing, which means he’s making the trips to the trade shows across the country. Often the company’s strong reputation precedes it, Hodges said. Customer service is a strong suit.
In one case, a wholesale customer who ordered ribbons and still had the supply four years later, complained that he didn’t like the color. Hodges replaced it.
In another case, Hodges had ordered metal award bowls from an overseas manufacturer to sell to his customers. The product was prominently displayed in Hodges’ catalog. But when the shipment of bowls arrived in Portsmouth, they were slightly warped. Hodges dropped the manufacturer and had to notify its customers that the product would not be available. The company had no choice.
“We stand behind everything we sell and do,” Hodges said. •
COMPANY PROFILE
Hodges Badge Co. Inc.
OWNER: Frederick J. “Rick” Hodges III, president
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Award-ribbon
manufacturer
LOCATION: 1170 East Main Road, Portsmouth
EMPLOYEES: 100 in Rhode Island,
another 50 in Washington, Mo.
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1920
ANNUAL SALES: $10 to $15 million in 2009
