Growing Companies

Remember the slogan from the old Timex commercials - it takes a licking but keep on ticking?

Well, Gorilla Glue can put that motto to shame. Instead of a mere licking, it has teamed up with a group that gives its product a beating, a rhythmic pounding, a literal thumping - over and over and over again. And that group - Recycled Percussion - a junk, punk rock band that turns ordinary items into cadenced drums, makes sure it uses Gorilla Tape, saying it's the only product that can take the thrashings its four drummers hand out nightly in Las Vegas.

"Everything seen in our shows we build ourselves, and since none of us are welders or carpenters, Gorilla Tape just seems to be the answer to everything," said band member Ryan Vezina.

The product, manufactured and sold from company headquarters in Madisonville, was introduced in 2005 as a complementary product of the Gorilla Glue company. Do-it-yourselfers, woodworkers, carpenters, and other such professionals use the products as all-purpose adhesives. Company officials say the glues and tapes contain twice the amount of adhesive of other such products, are water resistant, and can stick to anything and everything.

"We call Gorilla Tape a duct tape on steroids," said Nadine Williams, the firm's assistant marketing manager. "It's a real, heavy duty duct tape."

The company started producing the Gorilla Glue line in 1999. It now employs more than 100 people at its offices and plants on Red Bank Road. Family-owned and operated, Williams says it likes to maintain a family-atmosphere making fun-but-serious products. Its work with Recycled Percussion also fits in with its stated commitment to focus on recycling initiatives, a greener manufacturing process and reducing waste.

The relationship with the New Hampshire quartet, which recently was a finalist on America's Got Talent, began when the band sent a 20-page letter, bound with Gorilla Tape, to the company bragging on its product, said Holly Burke, Gorilla Glue's marketing coordinator.

"Their whole set is handmade," Burke said. "They realized they had to tape everything together, and the only thing they could find that worked was Gorilla Tape."

Eventually, a sponsorship was born, providing the band with its much needed tape, and the company with a unique demonstration of its product.

"It's a match made in heaven," Burke said. "They needed the toughest stuff. It shows our customers just how much our tape can put up with."

Writer: Paul Long
Sources: Nadine Williams, assistant marketing manager; Holly Burke, marketing coordinator.