Bryan company's bulletproof chair drawing national interest

Neutral Posture's chair is covered with a bullet-resistant vest that can be worn or used as a shield. (Neutral Posture photo) Neutral Posture's chair is covered with a bullet-resistant vest that can be worn or used as a shield. (Neutral Posture photo) Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Bryan company's bulletproof chair drawing national interest 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

A small Bryan company is surprised at the attention it's getting for its newest product - a bulletproof chair.

Neutral Posture, co-owned by Rebecca E. Boenigk and her mother, Jaye Congleton, came up with the idea of an office chair covered with a bullet-resistant vest as something that would appeal to government security types, Boenigk said.

They call it the Guardian Chair.

"When we originally developed it, we were thinking very small scale, like the FBI, CIA, people like that," she said. "We have been amazed at how many other people are interested in the product."

In addition to federal security agencies, the company with fewer than 100 employees has had inquiries from schools, banks, grocery stores and other types of organizations, Boenigk said.

"The response has been pretty overwhelming from the standpoint of all the people who want to see it," she said.

Introduced in June at the NeoCon office furniture trade show at Chicago's giant Merchandise Mart, the Guardian Chair caught the attention of the Chicago Tribune.

"To get on the front page of the Chicago Tribune was pretty amazing," Boenigk said. "Out of all the products they saw, we were the product they chose to write about."

The chair has its own website, guardianchair.com, which notes that the bullet-resistant vest fits over the back of the chair and is fastened with Velcro straps.

The vest provides protection for up to .357 Magnums, according to the website.

A person in danger can either hide behind the chair or remove the vest from the chair back and put it on as personal protection.

"You can do it in two seconds," Boenigk said.

Acknowledging that the chair is a "horribly morbid product," Boenigk said the company struggled with whether to produce it.

"The more we thought about what it could do, the more we realized there's a possibility this product could save lives," she said. "If you are a line of defense between the shooter and the innocents, it gives you a little more opportunity to make a difference."

For example, she said, the principal at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where a gunman killed 26 people in December, was shot in the chest.

If that principal had had access to such a vest, perhaps she could have deterred or slowed the shooter, Boenigk said.

The Guardina Chair was invented by Mark Benden, a former Neutral Posture employee who now teaches ergonomics at Texas A&M University. Boenigk said its design also incorporates the expertise of BMI Defense, which makes bulletproof vests.

Benden patented the invention, and Neutral Posture is the exclusive licensee to his patent, Boenigk said.

Priced at $1,890, the chair is beyond the reach of most schools but is more feasible for fundraiser groups, such as PTAs, Boenigk said.

"We've already had a couple PTAs contact us," she said. "The school doesn't have the money, but the PTA does."

With sample chairs now going out to sales representatives and clients, the bulletproof chair is expected to be in full production by the end of September, Boenigk said.