An Anaheim maker of parachute releases, emergency lighting systems and survival kits for the military is shuttering operations here and moving to Florida.
H. Koch & Sons Co., which has been based in Anaheim since the early 1970s, is set to cut 60 jobs in the move. The company was bought by St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Conax Florida Corp. in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
Conax, a maker of mechanical releases for parachutes and survival kits, is consolidating H. Koch & Sons’ operations into its headquarters in St. Petersburg.
The move is expected to be completed by early next year.
Conax is part of Britain’s Cobham PLC. Neither H. Koch & Sons nor Conax disclose sales.
Workers were informed that the plant,at 5140 E. La Palma Ave. near the Riverside (91) Freeway,would be closing back in August, H. Koch & Sons spokeswoman Patty Norrbom said.
All workers had the option of transferring to Florida, according to Norrbom. So far, only six plan to make the move, she said.
Employees “were disappointed,” she said.
H. Koch & Sons has some longtime workers, including one who’s been with the company for about 30 years.
The 72,000-square-foot Anaheim facility was the company’s hub, where product machining, molding, sewing, plating and electronics assembly were all done.
Existing orders are set to be shipped from H. Koch & Sons’ Anaheim facility through the end of the year, the company said in a statement.
Conax said it plans to continue relationships with H. Koch & Sons’ customers, which include the military, Boeing Co. and Lockheed-Martin Corp., under the Koch name.
H. Koch & Sons was started in 1909 in San Francisco by German leatherworker Herman Koch.
He made items such as leather suitcases and steamer trunks until 1945. In the late 1940s, Koch was recognized for creating “the strongest suitcase in the world” out of fiberglass.
The company became known as a leader in fiberglass.
It began supplying the military with instrument cases used in nuclear tests in the Pacific.
In the 1950s, Koch’s sons Murray and William began making rugged ejection seat survival kits and the vacuum packaging for emergency sleeping bags and life rafts.
The growing company moved to Anaheim from Corte Madera in Marin County in the early 1970s after the Koch family sold its stake in 1969.
H. Koch & Sons has since developed crash-resistant restraint devices for helicopters and planes.
The company is best known for making mechanical or automatic parachute canopy releases,still called “Koch fittings” in the military.
