 |
|
Dave
Parker, Founder
Pelican Products
|
FROM A SMALL GARAGE
TO A GLOBAL BUSINESS -
Dave Parker, Founder and President of Pelican™ Products,
has been an avid Scuba diver since age 11 and has dived some of the most
exotic spots in the world. Several times during his years of diving, Dave
discovered that something he needed to make a dive complete, was simply
not available. It dawned on him that "...if I need something like
this, I'll bet all the other divers do too!" It was from this thought
that in 1976 Pelican™ Products became a reality and Pelican's first
product and patent, the Pelican Float, was that concept. After a normal
days work at his advertising and industrial design business, Dave and
his wife, co-founder Arline, an airline stewardess for TWA, would spend
evenings in their garage building floats.
Dave
built all of his own equipment and handled the assembly end of the business.
Arline boxed, billed and mailed everything out between her regularly scheduled
flights to New York and back. Their homemade float was sold through mail
order ads placed in scuba diving magazines.
Dave
decided that if his company were going to prosper, he needed to get some
help. That help came to him in the form of Jerry Linehan. A business school
graduate from the University of Southern California, and long time friend
of Dave's, Jerry came along four months later to shore up the financial
end of the business. From its inception as a small garage operation, Pelican
has blossomed into an international marketing and manufacturing firm.
Yes, Pelican™ Products has changed a great deal over the past several
years. It is safe to say that it will continue to change in the upcoming
years as well. However, there is one thing that will not change, that
you can continue to count on, and that is Pelican's Commitment to Excellence! |
