ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Made in Maryland" is provided by... Offering big bank capabilities and boutique bank care, CFG Bank supports businesses of all sizes and industries, including manufacturing across Maryland.

We are CFG Bank.

Your success is our business.

This program is in part made possible through a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, which has been serving the Maryland community with high-quality healthcare for over 35 years.

The Maryland Marketing Partnership amplifies all that makes Maryland a great place to live, work, and do business in, including our bright minds, diverse population, and connectivity.

Learn more at business.maryland.gov.

Chesapeake Employers Insurance.

Proud to support "Made in Maryland" and the exciting future for manufacturing in Maryland.

And by... NARRATOR: America's first responders and essential workers rely on their equipment to keep them safe.

COLIN CLARK: We want hardworking people in America to be able to make it in America.

NARRATOR: From body armor and protective footwear to rigid-hull inflatable boats.

TODD SALUS: There's no reward greater than the feeling from helping to save lives.

NARRATOR: Maryland manufacturers are on the front line ensuring heroes come home.

GEORGE TUNIS: At the end of the day, it's about bringing people home to their families, that's it.

NARRATOR: Queen Anne's County is home to one of the state's leading manufacturers of rigid-hull inflatable boats.

TODD: Ocean Craft Marine is a company that I helped co-found about 14 years ago.

We design and build boats specifically for professional mariners.

So, military, law enforcement, fire, search and rescue worldwide right here from Kent Island, Maryland.

NARRATOR: The boats' lightweight hulls, inflatable side tubes, and powerful engines make them ideal for lifesaving operations on the water.

TODD: All of our end users operate in what we call the no-failure zone.

So, they're going out in very arduous conditions, either to protect or save lives.

NARRATOR: When the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March of 2024, the first boat on the scene was a high-performance vessel custom-built for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police Marine Unit by Ocean Craft Marine.

TODD: Obviously, the call for that bridge collapse came in in the wee hours of the morning, so that particular officer arrived on scene in about 15 minutes.

We were overwhelmed to be a part of it.

There's no reward greater than the feeling and the satisfaction that you get from helping to save lives.

It's my passion.

It's the reason I'm doing what I'm doing, and I love doing it.

NARRATOR: The innovative design allows operators to glide effortlessly over waves, ensuring a dynamic and stable experience on the water.

TODD: It interacts with the surface of the water.

When the boat is entering successive wave action, that tube set flexes and that flex dissipates the energy of the wave action away from the boat and away from the operators.

NARRATOR: Once the basic form and function of the hull is finalized, custom features are added to the structure.

TODD: Today we're gonna finish the final assembly of this eight-meter law enforcement boat.

The only difference between the artist renderings and the boat we're working on today is the brand of motor is different.

The first step in that today is to mount the T-top, which we're gonna do right now.

Stone, David, you want to grab that top and bring it over?

We build everything.

We build the hull, we build the tube set, the console, all the above-deck infrastructure, and the T-tops, pilot houses.

So, we're in control of all facets of it.

The only thing that we don't build, obviously, are the motors and the electronics.

These we purchase.

After the T-top is mounted, we continue with the final assembly.

We'll mount the windscreen; we'll install the helm and the electronics.

On this particular boat, the helm is fly-by-wire.

It's fully digital.

It's electronic digital steering-plug and play.

So, in the third phase of final assembly, it's when we mount the outboard engine or engines.

This engine's about 700-pound engine.

It's a pretty heavy motor.

You need a, an engine lift or a forklift to handle this motor.

As you can see, in this case, they're carefully adjusting the height of the engine so that the anti-cavitation plate is parallel with the running surface of the boat, but it should be properly aligned with the running surface, and that's how you know the motor is at the correct height for the design of the vessel.

What we call the AFT A-frame equipment arch, is for mounting lighting and electronics.

It's a platform that we can mount equipment to, and in this particular design, it's integrated with the outboard motor guard.

Protects $30,000 worth of motor from impacts.

Finish the boat, take it to the water for a sea trial.

Our organization is vertically integrated, and everyone wears many hats.

STONE STITCHER: Manufacturing boats on Kent Island is awesome.

I can come down, I get to work with my hands, I get to be outside, be on the water.

Before this, I was going to school to be an accountant and work with my uncle at his firm, and then the realization of I didn't want to be at a desk all day, every day hit.

I then found fast boats through Todd Salus.

One of our boats saved a life, and then I was hooked.

You feel like you're making a difference.

I never thought I'd be a manufacturer, but some of the benefits that I've come to find out were just being kind of my own boss and not behind a desk.

It's amazing.

TODD: I grew up in the boating industry.

My father owned and operated a local company, so my brother and I, we spent our summers scraping and sanding boats and painting them, and I was enlisted in the Navy for eight years.

I was medically retired in 2008.

The things that happened during that time in the service is you come back and, and you reenter civilian life and try to go back to your civilian jobs, and things change for many, and myself, my civilian job just didn't matter.

It didn't seem that it was very important in the grand scheme of things.

So, I knew I needed to find a new focus, something that was very important.

As important as the time that I had spent down range doing the mission in order to stay focused, working to support the professional Mariners did just that.

NARRATOR: Supporting the professional Mariner has transformed into a vital mission in its own right.

TODD: Several years back, the leadership at Ocean Craft Marine decided to create this accelerator for innovation in the maritime ecosystem.

Project Perfect Storm describes the industry collaboration and their latest innovations, incorporating them into what is now one platform, one of Ocean Craft Marine's 11.5-meter offshore interceptors as the chosen platform for everyone's innovations and their engineering talents.

NARRATOR: The initiative aims to design vessels that minimize injuries during rough seas caused by crashing into waves.

TODD: As any boat encounters wave action, there are G-forces or slamming loads, and the energy is all transmitted through the boat.

And as it's transmitted through the human body, it's actually amplified.

So, a slamming load or an impact that is 1 or 2 Gs on the hull, by the time it gets to the cervical spine, it could be anywhere from 5 Gs, it could be 40 Gs.

And so, you have this whiplash effect.

For our military operators, the CTE brain injuries, the cervical spinal injuries.

Very few are escaping without some of those injuries.

When I first started operating small boats in the Navy, there was no shock mitigation technology.

Your knees and your hips were your shock mitigation.

Operating high-speed boats, I've thus far had three spinal cord surgeries, including one rather recently in my cervical spine.

NARRATOR: Innovations from Project Perfect Storm have reduced slamming impacts and peak G-forces by a remarkable 77%.

TODD: Project Perfect Storm, it seems now that it was a natural place to end up based upon our motivations and where we were going, but we're really just getting started with the project.

NARRATOR: Ocean Craft Marine rigorously tests every vessel to ensure it is mission-ready.

It is the same pursuit of excellence that defines Dunlop Protective Footwear.

Trusted by essential workers on the front lines.

Dunlop Protective Footwear, located in Havre de Grace, Maryland, is the leading manufacturer of safety boots worldwide, combining cutting-edge technology with a skilled workforce.

COLIN: We're very proud to be made in America, and we do that because we want hardworking people in America to be able to make it in America.

MAURICE HANSTÉ: We produce in three locations all over the world, Portugal, and in the Netherlands, and in the U.S., we produce here in Havre de Grace.

NARRATOR: Dunlop's tradition of Dutch craftsmanship is embedded into every pair of boots they manufacture.

COLIN: We have been making boots in the Netherlands for over 100 years.

Here in the U.S., we've been manufacturing boots in the Mid-Atlantic region since 1939.

First, as the Bata Shoe Company, and then in 2016, partnered with Dunlop to become Dunlop Protective Footwear.

Every single year, we manufacture just over 1.7 million pairs of boots here in Havre de Grace for agriculture, food processing, industry, construction, and all sorts of other industries.

MAURICE: We produce around 7 million in total.

We are really innovative in the boot industry.

We don't outsource anything and that makes us unique as a small, let's say, multinational on a global scale.

COLIN: It's a very difficult process.

Our product range is incredibly broad and wide.

We have the Hazmax, it's the number one chemical boot in the world.

Our locally made PVC, which is, you know your entry-level work boot.

There's only 11 machines in the world that can make Purofort product, we own all 11, its proprietary to us.

We've put a lot of innovations into the plant, so we really have three to four factories inside of one.

NARRATOR: Dunlop Boots demonstrates remarkable engineering.

Purofort is a type of polyurethane featuring evenly distributed air pockets.

NIKEETA PATIL: This is our Purofort line, and we make about 900 to 1,000 pairs every day.

Now, how this boot is made is chemicals are mixed together that are liquid.

Similar to mixing glue.

The machine has 14 different stations.

It's a rotating machine, the carousel, and through these infeed lines, all the chemicals come through the machine, and there are two injection points.

One injection point is for the upper, and the other injection point is for the sole.

First, the upper is injected and is cured.

By the time the carousel moves to the sole injection point, then the sole is injected, and then the carousel moves around to the front.

So, each boot comes in front.

The robot puller will pull the boot; the sprayer robot will spray the mold.

When it comes in front of the operator, the operator will put the liner, and then it gets a toe cap, which adds the safety to the boot.

NARRATOR: The manufacturing of the PVC line is fast and sustainable.

NIKEETA: We make about 800 pairs of Chesapeake in one shift with less than 5% scrap.

The PVC process is similar to PU.

The pellets come to the PVC machines in two different silos.

For the upper and the sole are simultaneously injected.

And while the carousel turn around, the mold is held close with clamps that helps the material to cure and stick together.

And less than 30 to 32 seconds, we get a PVC boot form.

NARRATOR: Dunlap's commitment extends to protecting the planet.

100% of their PVC scrap is remelted and turned into a new boot through the regrinding process.

DAVE GASKILL: This boot here, the upper didn't fill out, it'll get reground.

So, what we do is we place these on the conveyor belt, and then they'll go into the grinding machine.

The grinding machine has 24 rotary knives, three stationary knives that'll chop it up into a fine little particle.

NARRATOR: Dunlop's Innovation Lab is dedicated to developing products and carefully analyzing them to ensure they protect against hazards like electrical shock, crushing weight, and fire.

DAVE: We burn the sample that we create here in the lab for 12 seconds, and then it must go out in less than two seconds.

We actually put an electrical charge in the boot to see if the electrical charge can pass out of the boot.

It must hold less than one milliamp for one minute.

So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna drop a weight on this toe, and we're gonna measure how many joules of energy went into that toe and measure how much compression and impact that toe can withstand.

I raised the weight that shows me the velocity of the toe impact times the weight.

That tells me the joules of energy that went in that toe.

Now, I'm gonna measure how much compression there is.

The standard says for a toe of this size, you can't have no more than one inch of compression.

This is 14.9, so this is a pass.

NARRATOR: Dunlop is transforming the industry by eliminating middlemen in the delivery of their boots, and it all starts with smarter packaging.

LISA LITTLE: Tameka pulls up a rack of boots, she goes over the size, and she inputs it into the computer system.

She's checking for metal, she's checking for defects, and then she puts our Dunlop logo on it with the tampo machine.

Michael, he puts the insoles in the boots.

He also looks for the defects, lays the boots down, it goes through our shrink tunnel, and as it comes down the belt, our automatic label applicator puts the size of our boot label on, and then the packer packs it out.

NIKEETA: Here we are reporting as finish the products.

We call it RAF.

In RAF, what we do is every product that is made in this factory comes to a point where it is packaged and staged.

Once the pallet is complete, it is ready to be pulled into the warehouse.

MATT TRUITT: So, we get the sales order, it tells you the first item number and the first location to pick from.

NIKEETA: And the locations are updated every second.

MAURICE: Looking at the total picture, and we work with 500 colleagues all over the world.

Very important for us is think global, but act local, and that's the main reason to be present also here in Maryland.

Makes our capability also in Havre de Grace, unique in the world.

COLIN: It's very important for us to give opportunities to workforces globally.

So, we're hiring refugees.

We're hiring people in Maryland.

We have just over 120 people here in our factory, and we've been growing that number.

TAMEKA HARRIS: What I like most about working here is that we're like a family.

We laugh, we have fun.

It's not just a job.

I'm a finishing line lead.

I'm the last person that touch the boots to pack 'em out.

I didn't realize how important we was to customers for safety.

Made me be more aware of it, that this is not just a paycheck.

This is where we're dealing with people lives, who's going out there to take care of other lives, like during tornadoes, fires, and stuff that we support with our boot.

COLIN: We are moving the segment in the marketplace forward.

MAURICE: I'm really proud of the team.

NARRATOR: In extreme conditions, safety is paramount for companies like Dunlop and Pocomoke City's Hardwire, it is their entire purpose.

Each pairs next-gen materials with ultra-precise manufacturing to produce products that save lives.

Based on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Hardwire sets the standard for vehicle and body armor.

Body armor is more than protective gear.

It's a lifeline for law enforcement, the military, and anyone in danger.

GEORGE: We make the lightest body armor on planet Earth.

Our job is to stop the bullet.

NARRATOR: Hardwire draws most of its team from Worcester and surrounding counties.

GEORGE: I can't say enough great things about them.

It's truly about attracting brilliant people, both shop floor personnel and engineers.

SCOTT KENDALL: We have 15, 20 engineers on staff.

All of our engineers, luckily, have to be the first ones to make the product.

We develop products in the R&D building, but when they come over here to production, we have to also build the equipment that can make the products.

So, our engineers design and build pretty much everything you see out on the floor here from scratch.

GEORGE: What really matters in quality are the human beings on the shop floor, creating that quality every minute of every day and and knowing that we don't take shortcuts ever.

NARRATOR: It's a meaningful mission celebrated each year during the Saves Event; where survivors meet the manufacturers of their lifesaving armor.

PRESENTER: Everything that y'all do, uh, I'm here because of you.

GEORGE: This is something very, very special.

And the magnitude and what this feels like coming from the people that were actually saved, it's emotional, and we brought that here to our people.

NARRATOR: Hardwire wasn't founded as an armor manufacturer, but they soon became one.

GEORGE: When we started, we were just making tapes of tire cord that could be laminated in composites.

But then 9/11 happened, and for me it just became a personal crusade.

Couldn't we do something to try to help in the armor space?

So today, Hardwire is a 100% about improving the survivability of human beings.

NARRATOR: Thanks to innovations in materials and manufacturing, today's body armor is lighter, more efficient, and outlasts the elements.

GEORGE: Catch a bullet, is like catching a baseball.

Most bullets are spinning between 50,000 for a pistol to 150,000 RPMs for a rifle.

We found ways to use that spin to do bullet jujitsu to exhaust that energy or spread the energy.

NARRATOR: The Hardwire team was working to create lightweight armor for the Department of Defense when it discovered ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, or UHMW, a versatile plastic.

GEORGE: Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.

So basically, milk jugs on steroids drawn into a fiber.

It's the only manmade fiber that has passed nature.

It's stronger than spider silk per density.

NARRATOR: UHMW became a game-changer for American troops in Iraq.

GEORGE: We were shipping 125 trucks a week of armor.

The troops would get in them and go directly into Baghdad or Sadr City, and these IEDs would go off.

We call it a minnow, followed by another minnow, followed by a bass.

It is just unbelievable train of two pounds of copper coming at you at four times the speed of a bullet.

And to be able to stop seven of those at a time, we got 'em from the airport to the base.

In many cases, it was just that run was the most dangerous run.

NARRATOR: The perfect recipe of heat and pressure is required to turn UHMW into lightweight armor that protects American troops.

GEORGE: As we get into the details, I've gotta put on my glasses, I've got four layers.

1, 2, 3, 4 that I folded this into.

They're almost worthless until we smash them under ridiculous amounts of pressure and temperature to kind of fuse them altogether so that this fiber, which may be the first one that sees a bullet, is talking to this fiber through these fibers.

We have two of the world's biggest presses.

These machines put out roughly 25 million pounds of force.

So that exerts 3,000 PSI on a 5 by 10-foot sheet.

And we are cooking 10 sheets at a time.

We are very precise with our temperature control.

We want to be plus or minus about four degrees Fahrenheit, anywhere in that stack, anywhere in the press.

We use hot oil.

You maintain the temperature of the oil; you maintain the temperature of whatever it is you're cooking.

Works for French fries, fish, hush puppies, and hot oil works great for armor.

David's here to make sure that nothing goes wrong, but generally this is all run by the computer-controlled system.

Well, it came from those presses in the back, and it comes directly out of those into the Gerber.

This operation is purely for soft armor.

We're gonna get roughly eight to 10 front and backs to sort of wrap around your torso, NARRATOR: Only through comprehensive and demanding real-world testing can armor prove its worth on the battlefield.

GEORGE: You can do all kinds of science, but where the rubber meets the road is inside that gun tunnel.

You have to go shoot at stuff.

That is the tunnel of truth.

NARRATOR: Before final assembly, the armor is outfitted with graphics printed without dangerous, volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.

GEORGE: And I'm here with Mia, one of our most cross-trained employees who's actually an ex-GI Josephine.

She's one of the best employees we got and she's running the printer today.

MIRELLA WHITE: I worked in the United States Army Reserve Command, just coming from a veteran perspective that I can touch on the other side of helping lives.

NARRATOR: The Virginia Tech shooting in 2007 marked a turning point for George and the Hardwire team.

GEORGE: That just broke my heart.

We knew we made really lightweight stuff that could be very useful to save lives because seconds count.

NARRATOR: The Hardwire team developed the Emergency Response Shield, a tool designed to be as accessible as a fire extinguisher.

EMILY TUNIS: I have a kindergartner and a second grader, so if you wanna talk about how it hits home with Sandy Hook and Uvalde, I just, I can't even imagine.

We stop bullets for a living all day, every day.

The Emergency Response Shield is really a passion project for us.

GEORGE: And it's just so easy to add this layer of defense.

And that doesn't mean that's the only layer.

It's just a layer.

As a father, I can tell you my kids' school's one of the best-protected in the United States, if not the world, because it's not going to happen on my turf, not because I don't believe it can't happen, it's because I do believe it can happen.

Today, we're gonna be putting together just one of our ERS Shields.

Sean's gonna be putting it together.

You never know where the enemy's gonna come from or what they're gonna do.

I'm just gonna assume for a second our cameraman today is an active shooter.

So, this is very quick to either grab off a wall, a table, wherever you happen to be.

Now all of a sudden, I'm mobile, he can't even see me.

All he sees is red, and boom, I'm in his face.

And that with corners, okay, is going to disarm you, disable you, and the last thing you will see is a big red square.

EMILY: The Emergency Response Shield has evolved over time.

It's such an incredible experience to know that we're building something, we're making something, and knowing that it's gonna go keep someone safe or save a life just is so meaningful.

GEORGE: At the end of the day, it's about bringing people home to their families.

That's it.

NARRATOR: Maryland companies are investing in advanced technology and exceptional talent to provide frontline heroes with the gear needed to do what they do best... saving lives.

ANTHONY DIFR: Open Insulin is a global collaboration.

We have a network of participating community labs, and BUGSS in Baltimore is one of those participating labs.

The price of insulin has been rising quite rapidly.

This has put it out of reach of many people who need it to survive.

Open Insulin is putting the production and the supply of insulin in the hands of the people who need it to survive and the communities that they live in.

Maryland was really a natural fit for the kind of work we're doing.

The talent required to solve the problems we're working on comes together with a deep need in the community for those problems to be solved, to ensure that the technology and the knowledge to use it, that will never disappear.

That that will always be available to the public and that can always be used to ensure a reliable supply of the medicine for the people who need it to survive.

ANNOUNCER: Major funding for "Made in Maryland" is provided by... Offering big bank capabilities and boutique bank care, CFG Bank supports businesses of all sizes and industries, including manufacturing across Maryland.

We are CFG Bank.

Your success is our business.

This program is in part made possible through a partnership with Kaiser Permanente, which has been serving the Maryland community with high-quality healthcare for over 35 years.

The Maryland Marketing Partnership amplifies all that makes Maryland a great place to live, work, and do business in, including our bright minds, diverse population, and connectivity.

Learn more at business.maryland.gov.

Chesapeake Employers Insurance.

Proud to support "Made in Maryland" and the exciting future for manufacturing in Maryland.

And by... ♪ ♪