BURLINGTON, N.C. — STREP, Static Rope Edge Protectors, won the 2023 Coolest Thing Made in NC small business category. 

The contest, held by the NC Chamber of Commerce, started in 2020 to “honor North Carolina’s manufacturers and raise awareness about the rewarding careers in modern manufacturing,” according to the website. 

This year, out of more than 130 nominees and three rounds of public voting, STREP by Fjord Inc. was named the small business winner, as it has less than 100 employees, and C.R. Onsrud’s Q-Series 5-Axis CNC Machine was named the winner of the medium to large business category. 

Michael Ratigan, the CEO and president of Fjord Inc., is the creator of STREP.

“It’s a really cool honor. You know, I mean, we went up against a lot of well-known companies and a lot of great startup companies,” Ratigan said. 

The STREP product line makes various products such as the Edge-Pro, Edge-Mat, Edge-Pack and Edge-Sleeve designed to help prevent static ropes, like the ones used by recreational climbers and search and rescue teams, from fraying while in use.

“The edge mat is going to sit on the side of a building or on the side of a cliff and is going to go over the edge like so, so that the rope will cover, come across the top of the edge mat. And this is a barrier between the rope and the building or the rope and the rock that it’s on. So it’s going to protect the rope from abrasion as well as soften the angle of the bend radius,” Ratigan explained. 

Some of the events STREP has worked with, including Grimpday, and 'The Amazing Race'. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

He says his product has sponsored multiple Grimpday's, which, according to the website, is an international challenge for search and rescue teams, firefighters, civil defense, military and police teams to compete in excercises that emulate rescues in hazardous environments.

“We have sponsored Namur, Belgium. We’ve sponsored them in Marseille, France. We have done the North America competition. We sponsored the Japan one. Next year, in February, it’ll be in Brazil,” Ratigan said. 

His products have even been used on the show The Amazing Race.

Ratigan started STREP in 2012, and officially launched in 2020. He quit his job as a teacher in Florida and moved back to his home state to help with his dad’s dream, Chafe-Pro.

“When my dad created it, I always saw the need for it and the importance of it that I expected. I’d be doing this now, but I love what I’m doing and I wouldn’t change anything. I had a great career as a teacher and now I love being a business owner and entrepreneur and making products that keep people safe,” Ratigan said. 

His dad, Edward, started Chafe-Pro in 1991 to help protect mooring and towing lines. 

“Dad’s career in the Navy and as a captain, as a sailor, he saw people taking fire hose, and because fire hoses rapidly available, they would cut it and then stitch it into the mooring lines to protect the mooring lines, and fire hoses free. The downside to it is it’s not as abrasion resistant. It’s also very tedious for them to have to cut it and then stitch it into place. Chafe-Pro and STREP products are very easily installed in a matter of seconds due to the hook and loop closure system,” Ratigan said. 

Michael Ratigan looking at a STREP product with his dog, Whistler. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

Together, the duo has 15 patents with another on the way.

“When we started with Chafe-Pro, it was just for the maritime industry, where our primary focus was on commercial tankers, the military and tugboats. And then we branched from that into the recreational boating industry to the mega-yacht industry. And from there, we then went into the construction industry with lifting slings. And then from there we’ve matriculated on into the search and rescue industry, the rope access industry, and with first responders and protecting climbers,” Ratigan said. 

The business, which has nine employees, has grown from Ratigan and his mom and dad working out of their basement, to a world-wide company. 

“We’ve got a family here, and that’s how we all are. We’re a family,” he said.

His dog, Whistler, who helps work in the shop, and his sewers, who have been with him for years, have helped his family expand the business, and their newest addition, the world's largest sewing machine, will help increase productivity. 

“This machine is a great opportunity for us. It will allow us to increase our production and still keep up the same quality levels that our customers are used to,” Ratigan said. 

He says Chafe-Pro products are on over 95% of the USCG Cutter fleet and over 70% of the U.S. Naval fleet, as well as working with recreational boating, mega yachts, major shipping, towing and oil companies. 

“My dad started with an idea that of protecting rope that a lot of people said ‘that’s not going to work’. And, well, that motivated him to try and come up with something that would work where you won’t get a patent. And he got a patent on it, they’d say ‘you won’t get a sale’. Then he got sales and then he got government contracts,” Ratigan said.

Photo of Edward Ratigan. (Spectrum News 1/ Sydney McCoy)

Ratigan says Chafe-Pro was even used to protect the recovery tow harness on the NASA Orion Space Craft recovery.

“My goal is to just continue growing the company and coming out with innovative products that keep people and rope safe,” Ratigan said. 

Besides winning the title of the 2023 Coolest Thing Made in NC, the business will also be featured in different NC Chamber and Business North Carolina mediums. This includes podcasts, social media and publications, according to the chamber’s website. 

“There’s still a strong textile presence, but a lot of stuff has gone offshore and we’re just proud. The fact that we’re able to keep it made here and in our county with the majority of our raw materials being domestically sourced as well,” Ratigan said.