me about manufacturing and how to build
a national brand. Mom included me in
discussions about the company culture
and building an enterprise. When Land O’
Lakes took over Vermont Creamery, that
gave me great insight into mergers and
acquisitions. I learned about feasibility
studies and growth strategies.”
Sam said he always wanted to be an entre-
preneur. “You have to have the passion and
the grit to put sweat equity in. You can’t do
100 hours a week with no pay if you don’t
fully believe in your business. As owner,
you don’t ever clock out. I go home and my
brain is churning. I wake up in the middle
of the night and review marketing
materials, or look at sales projections and
answer emails. I try to be the first one in
and last one out.”
Asked what invigorates him, he pauses
then smiles broadly. “Getting an email
from a lineman who says, ‘you guys make
the best gloves I’ve ever put on my hands.’
An ironworker writes that he’s never had
a glove last more than 10 days on the job
until he tried our product. A consumer
calls from across the country and says she
bought our gloves from Smith & Hawken
25 years ago and finally needs a new pair.
That’s what gets me out of bed in the
morning.”
100 Years of History
Richard Haupt founded Green Mountain
Glove in 1920. He originally made silk
dress gloves and riding gloves for women.
However, the Europeans soon conquered
that market. Richard saw an opportunity
on the horizon with the advent of
electricity coming to rural making
heavy-duty line worker gloves.
“Amazingly, FDR’s program to electrify
rural America directly impacted this small
company here in Randolph,” Sam notes.
“Our product has a purpose—it protects
people’s lives.”
Vermont Glove’s primary market is
forward-thinking utility companies that
will invest in premium products. “Line
workers understand these gloves are indis-
pensable tools that help them do their jobs
safely,” Sam says. “Our target market is
medium-size utility companies across the
nation. Green Mountain Power is one of
our best customers, and they’ve remained
committed to us over the years.”
So what distinguishes these gloves? First of
all, they’re made from the highest quality
goatskin sourced domestically. Why goat?
Goatskin provides durability, dexterity,
and comfort; the leather dries soft and
flexible. Deerskin can’t handle abrasion,
and cowhide stiffens up after being wet.
Vermont Glove is a cut-and-sew operation.
Each glove requires 8 to 12 different cuts
of leather, and all those individual pieces
must be carefully assembled and stitched.
“This is highly skilled labor,” Sam explains.
“It usually takes two months to train
someone how to use the sewing machines
and a month on how to make the cuts.
That’s why we value our employees who
work with diligence, speed, and preci-
sion.” Daphne Herwig, a master cutter, has
worked for 28 years at Vermont Glove.
Heidi Haupt, operations manager, started
18 years ago at her family’s company and
can do all the steps. Lauren Bomalaski is
team lead, nimbly handling everything
from cutting to assembling to inspect-
ing and shipping. Pam Nickle, a lifetime
industrial sewer, joined Vermont Glove in
2018. She’s now the sewing
supervisor and stitching trainer.
Consider the Glove
Leather gloves are the most difficult
garment to make in the textile world.
Boot manufacturing can be automated
to a certain extent but not a glove, a
three-dimensional product with a
specific size. Workers have to deal with
heavy-duty material, intricate patterns,
and challenging stitch runs. Moreover,
every pair of gloves is made to order. And
with 25 styles of gloves in 24 sizes with
variations for each utility company, it’s
not feasible to keep a stocked inventory.
It takes 10 steps to make a pair of gloves.
Every piece of soft, golden hide must
first be inspected for any imperfection in
the grain. Next the leather is gauged for
thickness. Each hide is then worked and
stretched by hand, a crucial step that helps
the cutter understand where to position
the various cuts. For example, the palm
needs to stretch by width, not length. The
gloves’ application determines the gauge of
leather to be used.
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