GRAND RAPIDS — The glove fit — again.

Bridge Street Capital Partners, a West Michigan venture capital group, has agreed to invest in Performance Fabrics, a West Michigan safety glove and equipment company.

The move marks the second time Bridge Street, a group whose leaders include former Perrigo executive and chairman Michael Jandernoa and Monarch Hydraulics chief financial officer George Jackoboice, has put money into the glove business.

Late last year, the fledgling venture capital firm bought the Jacob Ash Co., a glove and specialty apparel company based near Pittsburgh.

The two companies already are working together on selling Performance's HexArmor brand gloves using a puncture- and cut-resistant material known as SuperFabric, said Steve VanErman, president of Performance.

The company was seeking capital to expand its business when it was approached by Bridge Street, VanErman said.

The company owns the exclusive rights to use SuperFabric in the industrial and workplace safety market.

VanErman said SuperFabric competes with DuPont's well-known Kevlar-brand fabric, but offers better cut and puncture resistance.

"Not only do we have the highest cut resistance, the most puncture resistance, but it's also 100 percent washable," he said.

The products are designed in the United States but most are made overseas, VanErman said.

The potential market for its products could be $800 million in North and South America, he said.

Bridge Street targets companies with revenue of between $5 million and $50 million in need of capital to expand, and profitable family-owned firms in need of an exit strategy.

Bridge Street does not disclose how much it invests in individual companies.

THE GRAND RAPIDS PRESS