At first glance, a visitor might believe that because of its name, Bally Ribbon Mills has cashed in on all those patriotic yellow ribbons tied around old oak trees during the Iraq war.

The 295 people who work in the Berks County factory have made just about every other kind of ribbon imaginable -- from those on Purple Hearts to old-fashioned garter belts.

But not yellow ribbons.

"We don't make decorative yellow ribbons," said Ray Harries, president of the private company now in its third generation of family leadership. "You'll have to go somewhere else if you want them."

But the company still has strong ties to Uncle Sam.

Bally Ribbon, in its 80th year, has been tied up with other government needs long before yellow became such a popular color. Its top contribution to America's military has been woven industrial tape and webbing in parachutes used by skydivers, jets and the space shuttle.

Earlier contracts can be seen on the space suits of the seven original astronauts displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Each suit from the 1960s had 16 tapes made by Bally Ribbon. Astronauts use the tapes to hold objects in space, some attaching to tethers used to keep them from drifting away from the capsule during a walk in space.

Last May, synthetic ribbons were in the parachutes aboard the S- 3B Viking jet that flew President Bush onto the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln. There, he declared an end to major fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Early last week, Harries asked his cousin, Vice President Bert Harries, and manufacturing manager Jim Gehris to join him in an interview at the plant. It was one of the few he has done.

"We're a quiet company," Harries explained. "We don't want to attract a lot of attention."

Good work ethic

The three seemed to enjoy talking about Bally Ribbon, which continues to provide steady employment in the small Berks County borough of Bally that had recently lost Great American Knitting Mills and its 300 jobs.

Bally's only other sizable company is the 75-year-old butcher block maker Bally Block, which employs 75 people.

The borough, on Route 100 about eight miles southwest of Macungie, measures a half square mile. It has a population of 1,062, with 48 percent having German backgrounds, according to the 2000 Census.

"The work ethic is good," said Gehris, who grew up in the area. "People are conscientious."

Bally Ribbon trains its nonunion work force, and employees stay for a long time. "It's probably why we're still here after 80 years," Harries said. "We have such good employees in this area."

Pamela Ream of Topton is one of those employees. She started with the company in 1976 at age 16, and was working last week in the company's harness department.

"I'm pulling the ends of material through for parachutes," she said. "I like working here, and I don't get bored."

Founder's flexibility

Much of the diversification at Bally Ribbon took place after World War II, when the invention of nylon, polyester, Teflon and Kevlar brought a variety of new products.

The company adjusted to change because of the flexibility of the late company founder, Herbert Harries, a yarn salesman from Paterson, N.J., and his family.

From the 1920s until the 1940s, Bally Ribbon was in the ribbons and blanket binding business.

Afterward, it maintained its hold as a niche manufacturer despite an increase in foreign competition.

In its 150,000-square-foot plant, the company makes parts for artificial limbs, blood filters, orthopedic equipment and filtration devices. It makes a medical tape to mend leaking blood vessels.

"We take raw yarn from yarn companies and process it so we can weave it into a ribbon or tape or webbing," Harries said. "Then we sell that material on 100-yard rolls or whatever the customer wants.

"He then takes it, sews it into a product -- such as a parachute or ribbon chute. He cuts it into straps or a tether. We don't make a finished product. We're just part of the process."

MRC's 3,000th project

In the past 10 years, agencies such as the Manufacturer's Resource Center at Lehigh University have become part of the process.

The MRC is a private, nonprofit corporation funded by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.

"The MRC and others are trying to help manufacturers in the industry save jobs, and keep industry and jobs in the area," Harries said. "Technologically, they give companies the assets they need to stay in business and pursue other avenues."

Through the MRC, the company earned quality supplier certifications that kept it competitive in the aerospace and other industries.

Its recent work with MRC was the agency's 3,000th manufacturing extension project.

"We've been with them for 15 years," said Susan Kennedy, a spokeswoman for MRC. "We've worked to help them remain competitive with cost-savings through applying lean manufacturing techniques."

Harries said Bally Ribbon's reputation in government work has driven the company into making specialty products.

Sales have reached $24 million with 1,500 clients, he said.

"We deal with all the major parachute companies in the United States, plus almost all the skydivers in the world," Harries said. "They need 2-inch-wide ribbons."

Clients include Delphi Automotive-GM, 3M, Baxter Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin and NASA.

Classified with lacemakers

The company's standard industrial classification is "narrow fabric mill," which technically puts it in competition with Allura of Reading, maker of lace and novelty fabrics; Narrow Fabric Industries of West Reading, maker of rigid, stretch narrow and lace fabrics; and Themco Products of Quakertown, a specialist in woven ribbon and dyeing.

But Bally Ribbon, the world's largest supplier of narrow woven industrial tape and webbing, does a variety of processes. Harries didn't identify any company as a main competitor.

"Less than 20 percent of our business is in parachutes now," he said. "We make a lot of other things. It's sometimes hard to remember them all."

The fact that Bally Ribbon still uses more than 100 seemingly obsolete shuttle looms shows a commitment to traditional quality.

"The new machines just can't do it the way the old ones can," Gehris said. "The shuttle looms are the only way to produce seamless tubes with a woven edge that won't unravel.

Bally Ribbon has an on-site machine shop, which makes spare parts for the shuttle looms, because they're no longer available elsewhere.

New ideas for next generation

Innovation is needed to keep up with the medical, military and aerospace industries.

"Our research and development department is constantly creating innovative design and processing solutions to meet exact needs of our customers," Gehris said. "We've created niche markets for our products."

In aerospace, for instance, there is a need to replace expensive high-tech alloys in aircraft and structural components with a cheaper, lightweight, strong material, Harries said.

The company was awarded a $5 million contract from the Air Force to make structural shapes for strengthening airplanes. It has designed two- and three-dimensional woven structures made from carbon/graphite fibers that strengthen the airplane's fuselage and wings.

It's another new frontier.

"Our sons are starting in the business now, so it will be a fourth-generation company," Harries said.

"The family has always worked together. So far, it's worked out."

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