Company: GGG
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000042888-25-000011
Chunk: 7

Company: GRACO INC
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 7
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 "Corob," several forms of a capital “G,” and various product trademarks that are material to our business, inasmuch as they identify Graco and our products to our customers.

Competition

We encounter a wide variety of competitors that vary by product, industry and geographic area. Each of our segments generally has multiple competitors. Our competitors are both U.S. and foreign companies and range in size. We believe that our ability to compete depends upon product quality, product reliability, innovation, design, customer support and service, specialized engineering and competitive pricing. Although no competitor duplicates all of our products, some competitors are larger than our Company, both in terms of sales of directly competing products and in terms of total sales and financial resources. We also face competitors with different cost structures and expectations of profitability, and these companies may offer competitive products at lower prices. We refresh our product lines and continue the development of our distribution channel to stay competitive. We also face competitors who illegally sell counterfeits of our products or otherwise infringe on our intellectual property rights. As this type of unfair competition grows or evolves, we may have to increase our intellectual property and unfair competition enforcement activities.

Environmental Protection

Our compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations did not have a material effect upon our capital expenditures, earnings or competitive position during the fiscal year ended December 27, 2024.

Human Capital Resources

As of December 27, 2024, we employed approximately 4,300 persons. Of this total, approximately 1,900 were employees based outside of the U.S., and 1,200 were hourly factory workers in the U.S. None of our U.S. employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Various national industry-wide labor agreements apply to certain employees in various countries outside of the U.S. Compliance with such agreements has no material effect on our Company or our operations.

The location of the majority of our manufacturing operations within the U.S. allows us to flex employee resources as needed to respond to changes in demand of our business. Our manufacturing, product development, warehouse and administrative employees are generally located in the same or adjacent facilities, which we believe contributes to our culture of strong manufacturing, engineering and customer service capabilities.

Health, Wellness & Safety

8

The personal health, wellness and safety of each of our employees is of primary importance. The prevention of occupationally induced injuries and illnesses is given precedence over operating productivity. Our Health, Wellness and Safety program is designed to increase engagement, reduce absenteeism due to illness or