(Editor’s note: This is the 16th installment in a monthly series highlighting some of the region’s unsung manufacturers that make products essential to the economy and, in many cases, our way of life. See previous installments here.)
James Stallman knows a little something about survival.
He can remember running through the upholstery factory that his family owned at 292 Charles St., Providence, when he was a child. Now, two generations later, Stallman operates Eco Global Manufacturing LLC at the same location.
He has survived by retooling the business, which now produces everything from dog chew toys to face shields and medical gowns to foam play blocks for children.
And Eco Global no longer relies on former buyers such as Hasbro Inc., Timberland LLC and automakers such as Ford Motor Co. for revenue. A bigger part of the business is the design and marketing of products that Eco Global sells to wholesalers and consumers.
“Before, we were just the manufacturer,” he said. “We were cogs. But sometimes you have to reinvent yourself to stay relevant. Otherwise, you become vapor. We can now be our own completely vertically integrated manufacturing base.”
Indeed, the company is in the middle of a multiyear retooling effort to keep its machines running and employees – some of whom have been with the Stallman family for more than 50 years – working in the nondescript brick factory on Charles Street. Eco Global recently consolidated its real estate footprint, leaving its East Providence plant behind and shifting all Rhode Island operations to its Providence address. Stallman declined to say how many people work at the company but acknowledged it’s less than 50.
After acting as an original equipment manufacturer for years, Eco Global purchased New York-based Imagination Playground in 2018 and produces blue foam blocks that children can use in collaborative play to build structures. The blocks can be found in museums, schools and libraries around the world.
Stallman, president of the company, declined to provide revenue figures for the Imagination Playground line or Eco Global’s other products, but the foam blocks and several offshoots, such as foam dinosaur skeletons that can be assembled and dissembled, have now become a primary focus of the company.
Stallman says he is proud to make a product that has shown to be a significant benefit to children, who often spend too much time looking at computer and smartphone screens at early ages. Studies have shown free and collaborative play based on building can increase cognitive development and create lifelong problem-solving and social skills, Stallman says.
“[The foam blocks] are heavy enough for [building things], but not so dense that the kids will get hurt,” he said.
Eco Global also launched “Chew’ems,” nylon dog bones made with infusion technology – some available with hemp seed oil – that are saturated with vitamins and minerals.
After that came a line of doggie treats and dental products.
In addition, the company implemented a medical device line at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic creating face shields and medical gowns, which kept the plant open through the crisis.
Eco Global sells directly to consumers online and sells wholesale to distributors. Its products are now in 70 different countries.
It’s a far cry from the early Stallman family enterprises at the Charles Street location. The first was American Upholstery Co. and then, after World War II, the M.H. Stallman Co., an upholstery supply firm founded by James Stallman’s father.
But these days, in a globalized economy, companies must evolve with the times. This is especially true for manufacturing, a sector in which customers have the option of switching suppliers to foreign competitors with cheaper labor, greater subsidies and looser regulations, Stallman says.
Also, costs are climbing, with the expense for raw materials up 30% and utilities running 20% higher since 2019.
“It’s tough all over the Northeast,” Stallman said. “You can’t get away from that. So, we look for spots where competition is sparse.”
Because Eco Global builds its own machines whenever feasible and has retooling capabilities, it has an advantage over offshore firms competing for U.S. market share in its ability to react to the needs of customers.
The company has long specialized in the fabrication and distribution of flexible foam products, and it can perform compression cutting, molding, pressure-sensitive adhesive coating, flame laminating, and vacuum forming.
But like the custom-formulated foam and gel units that remain a foundation of Eco Global’s operations, Stallman says it helps to be malleable.
“We can go to presses faster. We have the ability to get to market quicker,” Stallman said. “Our design team can create something, go into the plant and build it. And we can ship in a week or two. You can’t even get an answer back from China in two weeks.”
Dominic Luoni, Eco Global vice president of operations, says the aim is to bring products to market “from conception to reality.” He has been with the company for five years but has decades of experience in research and development.
Under one roof, the company can create a 3D model and bring the design directly downstairs in the factory to create a prototype, rather than “the old days,” said Luoni, when a manufacturer was working off a distributor’s needs.
“As a one-stop shop, we design with intent and with costs in mind. Trying to make it commercially viable and scalable,” he said. “We can always design something. But it must be economical.”
Leftover material recycled from the foam blocks is shipped off to locations in Canada and Michigan to be used for underlayment on athletic fields.
While Eco Global is still a traditional manufacturer at heart, Stallman seeks to diversify its model with a mix of supplying other businesses with equipment and parts along with making and marketing its own products.
“It comes down to this: design, build, promote, create and sell,” he said. “We are a manufacturer who markets and is excited to now be manufacturing for ourselves. To transition from being not only a supplier but a company that creates and builds its own brands.”
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