NFIB

Patriot Seating, Inc. was founded in 2005 by Ken Altiero. Ken had spent 24 years in the office furniture industry and 18 of those years, he owned KMA & Associates, Inc., a successful manufacturer's representative group. 

The concept of hiring veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces exclusively, to upholster and assemble quality office seating was inspired by Ken's relationship with his brother Jim, a disabled veteran of the Vietnam War. Jim was wounded in action in 1967 and nearly lost his life. Ken was only nine years old at the time and his brother would always be his hero. In the years to come, Ken would learn through his brother and many other veterans, the struggle they experience with the transition from military to civilian life. He always felt that veterans have never been appreciated enough. "Our liberties and freedoms have come at a great cost to some for the benefit of all Americans," said Ken.

In the spring of 2005, Ken and Jim began to develop the concept of Patriot Seating.  Ken had spent many successful years in the office furniture industry and Jim, besides being a veteran, worked as a Veterans Representative for the state of Ohio, helping fellow veterans find employment.  They used their experience as a foundation, and with the help of some other dedicated individuals, they started to hire veterans to be trained in the upholstery and assembly of quality office seating.

Patriot Seating produced its first chair order in December 2005, and although there have been many bumps in the road, the company has been able to grow in the highly competitive office furniture industry. The five lines of seating products are high quality and well liked by their growing customer base. In October 2008, the company will be three years old and is close to profitability.

A second company, Veterans Representative Company LLC, was started in 2006.  Veterans Representative Company is a contractor that is on the General Services Administration Schedule and is Classified "Service Disabled Veteran Owned." Patriot Seating is sold to the government through VRC, as well as other office furniture products.

Patriot Seating currently employs seven veterans in the plant and four office workers.

Patriot Seating and VRC have been members of NFIB for less than a year, but the attraction to be involved with an outstanding small business organization has already paid off. Ken attended the Small Business Summit in Washington, D.C., in June and was able to spread the veteran concept to government officials and take part in informative discussions with many other small business principals. The power of small businesses working together for the betterment of all is what really attracted Ken and Jim to NFIB. 

The biggest challenge facing Patriot Seating, aside from being a young company in a competitive industry, is the ever-growing imports from China. "It is very difficult to compete with the Chinese because their cost of labor is so low," said Ken. "Their seating products are not yet the quality of the American brands, but just as the Japanese automobiles improved from the days of the 1960s, the Chinese products will surely do the same. We will be introducing a new line of task chairs that will be priced to compete and offer more selection of ergonomic controls and fabrics than the Chinese offering. We can only hope that through time the Chinese worker will be paid a fair wage and their cost of doing business will increase. In the interim, we need to pressure our Congressmen and Senators to pass more laws with regard to fair trade with China."

The business climate is surely difficult and the challenges are great but the rewards are greater. We are not talking about financial rewards. Every day the veterans at Patriot Seating raise the flag at a business that is dedicated to all of the men and women who have served or currently serve in our military.