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Article: Ownership changes advance garage startup to billion-dollar business: knee brace maker now offers more complete line of injury and rehabilitation products.(Company overview)
- Article from:
- San Diego Business Journal
- Article date:
- September 21, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 CBJ, L.P. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In a way, the genesis for DJO Inc. is the result of the rough-and-tumble life in the National Football League. Looking for some type of support for his battered knees, Mark Nordquist, then an offensive lineman for the Philadelphia Eagles, tinkered in his Carlsbad garage to fashion some knee braces made of tire inner tubes.
The braces were rudimentary, had flaws, but did provide some stability, and it wasn't long before his teammates asked Nordquist to make some of the braces for them. Not long after, in 1978, Nordquist and a few partners formed Don Joy, and called their products "knee sleeves."
The business that has gone through several ownership ...