Operation Desert Storm/Shield (1991-1992) | Back to Main List

Letters of appreciation for gift of Shooter's Choice gun cleaning supplies in support of Desert Storm/Shield

Text from an article in the newspaper Geauga This Week on Wednesday, May 8, 1991

Bainbridge gun care firm comes to rescue of troops

When Joe Ventimiglia’s company started receiving letters from U.S. troops involved in Operation Desert Shield describing the troubles they were having firing their M16 assault rifles, he knew he had to take action.

Early in the Desert Shield campaign, Ventimiglia, the president of the family-owned Bainbridge Township firm Ventco Industries, Inc., which markets Shooter’s Choice gun care products, began receiving letters from members of the United States military forces stationed in the Persian Gulf.

According to the letters, Ventimiglia said, the conditions of the desert were having a dramatic effect on troop’s guns- the heat, sand and sand dust were causing the M16’s to jam. Many soldiers, who probably had previously used his company’s products, he said, wrote to Ventco complaining about the quality of gun care products the military issued and asked for some of the cleaners and greases Ventco marketed.

Although he was surprised that troops in the Gulf would be writing to Ventco, Ventimiglia knew he had to act quickly. Shortly after receiving the letters, Ventimiglia wrote to General Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and several congressmen in an attempt to get a government contract so that he could send some of Ventco’s products overseas.

However,, this was easier said than done. Because of “all the bureaucracy and red tape" he had to cut through, Ventimiglia said he was getting nowhere fast.

In a last ditch effort to get his products to the troops overseas, Ventimiglia contacted Eckart, asking him if his company’s gun care products would get there any faster if he gave them to the government for free. Eckert said it was worth a shot, Ventimiglia said, and a short time later, the products were on their way to the Gulf, just in time for the ground offensive to start.

Ventimiglia added that Ventco’s products received a great deal of praise from the troops and even may have saved some lives.

Although the U.S. government is considering a contract with Ventco that would make the Bainbridge company’s gun care products standard issue, Ventimiglia said he donated his products to help out the troops- "it was the least we could do for our country- not obtain a prosperous government contract."

Ventco Industries, Inc., 16770 Hilltop Park Place, in Bainbridge, was started in April, 1983 when Ventimiglia began marketing a gun bore cleaner that had been designed by his father, Sal, and some of his “chemist friends. "According to Ventimiglia, his father and his father’s friends, all shooting enthusiasts, were not satisfied with the cleaners on the market.

With Ventimiglia as president, his father Sal as chairman of the board and brother Frank as vice president, Ventco now in its eight year, has its products distributed worldwide. The company has 40 independent manufacturer representatives and sells its products to 135 distributors, which sell to more than 12,000 retail stores. Ventco also sells to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.

Originally starting with only one product, Ventimiglia said the company has grown to now sell eight gun care products. He added that Ventco only manufactures cleaning solvents and lubricants- no brushes, cleaning rods or cleaning patches.

“Ventco only makes products for the cleaning and maintenance of firearms," Ventimiglia said. “All products are custom made for the shooting enthusiast."

Although Ventco is a relatively new company, the quality of its products is so highly considered that in just eight short years the company has moved to the forefront of the gun care industry.

“We’re recognized in the industry as the standard by which all others are judged," Ventimiglia said. “We’re like the Rolls Royce of the cleaning solvent business."

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