Protect-all commercial flooring Product Manager Jerry Lee breaks down the company’s past, present and outlook for the future during a quick sit-down at Surfaces 2013.

Looking Back

Our company was founded by John R. Burt, who started a small roofing company called Duro-Last Roofing; they’re now the largest single-ply prefabricated roofing company out there. And when you make roofing, you get a lot of scrap. He figured out a process to recycle the roofing scrap into flooring; from that sprung Oscoda Plastics and Protect-All Commercial Flooring.

Looking Ahead

I think the outlook is positive. Protect-All is a flooring solution that’s great for certain applications. One thing that we’ve been doing of late is really focusing in on areas that work best for us – commercial kitchens is one example – and working hard on those relationships. We know where our strength lies; instead of going after every commercial flooring application out there, we’re concentrating on what we know best.

Product Spotlight

Protect-All is a recycled vinyl product that’s slip-resistant and resistant to animal fats, so it’s perfect for commercial kitchens. Other locations being looked at include retail locations, entryways and other areas that see heavy traffic. In education there’s a lot of potential; it’s great for elementary schools where the gymnasium is a multi-purpose room that doubles as a lunchroom or for assemblies. Multi-purpose rooms in churches is another area with a lot of potential.

What to Know

Oscoda Plastics is a family-owned company, third generation now. Protect-All is a 100 percent recycled product made in the U.S.A., and we’ve got a sales team that meets not just with the distributor, but that makes an effort to connect with the end user. We listen to our customers – we’re a customer-driven company – and work with them; it’s not a “This is how it is” situation, it’s a collaborative effort. We recycle three million pounds of vinyl every year and make a long-lasting, durable product.