Employee Rick Palky assembles one of ProKnee’s custom-made kneepads on one of ProKnee’s custom-built machines at the company’s Devine Road headquarters in Whitefield. The new building ProKnee hopes to construct on Route 17 will also be custom-built to meet the specific needs of the niche company. (Abigail Adams photo)
At 26 years old, Lee Richards, who had worked in construction and flooring since he was 14, began to experience knee problems. Unable to find a kneepad on the market that would keep him working, he designed his own. “Thus began the journey of ProKnee,” Richards said.
In business since 1989, Richards spent the early years trying to convince distributors of the value of his custom-made, custom-fit kneepads for flooring and construction professionals. Now, his business, currently located on Devine Road in Whitefield, is “busting at the seams,” he said.
On Aug. 19, Richards presented plans to construct a new warehouse to house ProKnee’s light manufacturing and assembly operation at 116 Augusta Rd. (Route 17) to the Whitefield Planning Board. The plans, a modification to a site development plan approved in 2010, were unanimously approved.
While an existing structure at the Augusta Road site currently houses Richards’ office and workshop, the project to build a warehouse to move his manufacturing and assembly operation into has been in limbo for the past five years. ProKnee’s products are not only custom-built and custom-fit, so are the machines that make the products.
The warehouse Richards hopes to build is also of custom design. Completion of the project hinges on negotiations with a construction company capable of constructing the steel-framed metal building designed to meet ProKnee’s very specific needs.
“We’ve almost got the greenlight. We just need a contract,” Richards said. Once the building is constructed, Richards hopes to move ProKnee’s manufacturing and assembly operation to Augusta Road by December. The Devine Road location will be used for office space and distribution.
When ProKnee released its first knee-pad model in 1989, the deck workers at Bath Iron Workers were one of the company’s first customers. Distributors were reluctant to pick up the product, but feedback from the workers who used it changed that, Richards said. ProKnee currently sells its products through distributors and direct sales across the United States and Canada.
“We have folders full of testimonials,” Richards said. “Guys’ wives have contacted us to say, ‘Thank you. My husband can dance again.'” ProKnee is still selling parts for its original kneepad model – $25,000 in sales of parts in one year for frames constructed over 20 years ago, Richardson said.
ProKnee’s inventory has expanded to include a variety of models. With two widths, two levels of cushioning, and 18 different lengths, ProKnee offers 72 varieties of kneepads. “It took a long time but once people started to realize buying a kneepad is like buying a shoe, it took off.”
Lee Richards (right) stands with his son Griffin Richards at ProKnee’s headquarters on Devine Road in Whitefield. Richards hopes to move ProKnee’s light manufacturing and assembly operation to Route 17 by the end of the year. (Abigail Adams photo)
The majority of materials ProKnee uses to construct its kneepads are made in the U.S., despite the higher cost of the material. “We had the opportunity to go to China, but manufacturing needs to stay here,” Richards said.
The machinery used to construct the kneepads is designed and built by ProKnee’s in-house machinist to ensure the machines meet the very specific needs of ProKnee’s very specific product. The end result is a product of such high quality a backhoe can drive over it and smash it into the pavement without damaging the frame, Richards said.
Between part-time workers, consultants, and contractors, ProKnee financially supports approximately 20 people, Richards said. The U.S. companies ProKnee purchases its materials from are also expanding, Richards said. If sales continue to rise, Richards expects more workers will be needed in its manufacturing and assembly operation.
The primary motivation for moving into a warehouse on Route 17 is space, Richards said.
“We’re a small niche. We’re claiming one little bit of the construction industry and saving knees in the process,” Richards said. The modified plans approved by the planning board were already pre-approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. However, the five-year lifespan of the DEP approval expired and the plans must be resubmitted, Richards said.
Negotiating a contract with the construction company to build ProKnee’s warehouse is the major hurdle the project will have to jump over to reach completion.
“We’re getting everything lined up,” Richards said. “If something falls through, we’ll keep plugging away until we get it right. That’s what we do.”
