I’m Paul Darley, and thanks for tuning into our January and February issue of Inside Darley.
Hopefully, you and your family had a great holiday season, and 2025 is off to a good start.
We, as a business, just had our Defense Advisory Board here at our headquarters in Chicago for three days of incredible meetings.
We had two really great outside Advisory Board members join us.
The first is Dr. Jocelyn Seng. She’s a retired Major General from the Air Force, an expert in drone technology and other areas. The second is Dr. Robert Hamilton, a West Point graduate and professor in Strategic Studies at the Army War College.
Reflecting back, as Darley, a defense contractor, during World War II, we built hundreds of fire trucks and thousands of pumps for the US military. We went on to build the P-100 pump in the early 1990s and many other pumps for the Coast Guard, Marine Corps, and others.
In 2007, we were awarded a tailored logistics supply contract from the Defense Logistics Agency. Since that time, primarily based on that contract, in 2024, we hit a billion dollars in sales. Congratulations to our passionate team at Darley Company for all their efforts, and thank you to our amazing customers and suppliers for the ability to support and partner with you.
In addition to the DoD, we also work closely with other agencies like FEMA, Border Patrol, and various DHS areas. One area we’ve been closely monitoring is the avian bird flu, H5N1 virus. It went from birds to cows, and in 2024, there were 58 cases where it went from animals to humans. We’re keeping a close eye on this, and it’s good to see the CDC finally watching it. We’ve attached some information on that.
The Department of Energy, part of DHS, recently released their Emergency Management of Tomorrow research paper. It discusses AI relative to landscape assessment in emergencies. Some neat stuff there.
For our fire customers, the Fire Apparatus Manufacturers Association released their third-quarter report on new fire apparatus orders. Year over year, it was down 16%, but most of those trucks are still set for delivery in 2029.
The next article we’ve attached is from Fire Apparatus magazine’s December issue, titled “Choose the Right Apparatus Suppliers and Start Early.” With those long delivery times, Darley has a complete line of small mini pumpers or tactical pumpers available for immediate delivery if you’re in a tough position.
Partnerships have been incredibly important to us over the years. Our involvement in industry associations such as FAMA, where my father, my brother Peter, and I have all served as President, and FEMSA, the fire equipment manufacturers and services association, where James Long has served as President, has been significant.
We also have a strong presence in United Way, with 6 or 7 past presidents from Darley, and NDIA, the National Defense Industry Association, where I’ve served on their board in the Great Lakes chapter for the last 15 years. As I departed, they nominated me for the Kathleen Sindahar Small Executive of the Year award, which I was recently presented with and was very humbled and emotional to receive. We’ve attached a press release on that for you too.
You’re probably into AI and generative AI, but here’s a tip: the next big wave in AI is genetic AI. I encourage you to check that out. There are a lot of companies whose stocks are really moving, and it’s going to be transformative.
In fact, we’ve attached a message from my grandfather, who died in 1935. We used AI to create a message from him, congratulating us on some success.
Thanks for tuning into this issue of Inside Darley. If there’s anything we can do to support you, we hope you reach out to us.
Emergency Management of Tomorrow – Operations Center of the Future
Emergency Management of Tomorrow – Artificial Intelligence Industry Landscape Assessment
FAMA: Purchasing in 2025: Choose the Right Suppliers and Start Early
NDIA – Paul Darley Awarded NDIA 2024 Small Business Executive of the Year
