PONTE VEDRA, Fla. – Part of Jacksonville will be headed for Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Ponte Vedra-based company, Survival Straps, is outfitting Team USA not only with gear for the games, but the gear could potentially save lives in a dangerous situation.
"In an emergency situation, you can actually unravel them and have up to 26 feet of emergency cord," explained CEO Kurt Walchle. "Our gear has saved lives and it's made a lot of difference for people."
Walchle said the company is busy preparing items for 800 USA Olympic athletes. The job will bring in about $20,000 worth of business for Survival Straps, and that's money Walchle said he's going to pay forward.
"We're partnered with Wounded Warrior Project and a couple others, and we've raised over a million bucks now and we've been able to donate these to various organizations," said Walchle.
This isn't the first time Survival Straps has outfitted athletes. Last year, they provided gear tags, badge holders and their signature military-issue paracord bracelets to athletes during the summer games in London.
"It's fantastic. I mean, we're really proud," said Walchle. "We started this business as a little home-based business, a little mom-and-pop shop and we've been able to grow to where we're at now."
Survival Straps will be involved in gearing up athletes for the next summer games as well.