Reed Hauge and All-Safe Pool Safety Products received the Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year Award from the Small Business Administration. Hauge, co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of the firm, was nominated for the award by Chuck Sinks, Regional Director of Business Advising for Pacific Community Ventures, in recognition of his leadership of the company through some of its most challenging times. All-Safe was presented with the award last week at the 49th Annual Small Business Week Awards Celebration at the City National Grove of Anaheim. Learn more about All-Safe and their work with PCV in the SBA’s press release, copied below.
“SANTA ANA, CA – Reed Hauge and All-Safe Pool Safety Products have been nominated to receive the Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year Award by the Small Business Administration. Hauge, co-owner and Chief Operating Officer of the firm, was nominated for the award by Chuck Sinks, Regional Director of Business Advising for Pacific Community Ventures, in recognition of his leadership of the company through some of its most challenging times.
All-Safe Pool Safety Products designs, manufactures, distributes, and installs pool safety products including removable fencing, safety nets, safety barriers, automatic pool covers, and alarms. Founded in 1992 by the husband and wife team of Marsh and Helen Hauge, son Reed joined the family-owned business based in Orange in 1997 after completing business school. Today the company has more than thirty employees, a robust dealer network, and an active e-commerce site. The company has installations in all 50 states and 16 foreign countries, with roughly 70,000 customers.
With the near-implosion of the housing sector and ensuing recession severely impacting business activity, All-Safe faced excess facility capacity and debt service obligations that cut into their cash reserves. Leah Giltner at CDC Small Business Finance, Chuck Sinks at Pacific Community Ventures and Hauge worked together to streamline business operations, right size debt service obligations and downsize excess facilities capacity.
According to business advisor Sinks, “The time I worked alongside COO Reed Hauge and his family was likely the most tenuous in the history of this small business. The family was together, organized and asked the big questions. All-Safe Pools’ owners turned advice into real action. It has been satisfying to see this firm take a very trying time in the history of the business and turn it into a positive outcome.”
In 2008, as the recession took hold of the economy, All-Safe brought its previously outsourced production in-house. This decision reduced costs, increased quality and ultimately added more local jobs. Throughout the business transformation, All-Safe remained dedicated to its employees. In fact, the average tenure of an All-Safe employee is 8.2 years, and three different father-son combinations work for the company.
All-Safe supports organizations such as the National Drowning Prevention Alliance, Consumer Products Safety Commission, local fire authorities, children’s hospitals and swim schools to promote drowning awareness and pool safety.”