Business Incubation and Development
DCi
Donoho Companies Inc® (DCi) is a business incubator; developing and building powerful consumer products, businesses and services under our own brands.
Jess Donoho Companies® create strategies, business plans and infrastructure for exceptional consumer product manufacturers.
3
Current DCi Companies Under Management
22
DCi Brands and Companies Built and Successfully Sold
20
Outside Manufacturers Represented to Specialty, Luxury, Military and Industrial Markets
50+
Business, Strategic or Management plans developed for outside companies.
7
Non-Profit Board Chairman or Executive Director Posts
THOUSANDS
Thousands of clients in the consumer retail, industrial, law enforcement and Federal/ Military markets.
BENEVOLENT CHARITIES
BENEVOLENT was a non-profit we operated from 2012-2015. 100% of revenue was dedicated to children’s charities. Today, we resurrect Benevolent in support of our local rural health community. Look for our events, gallery presentations and exhibits at our new Lake Isabella Gallery. GRAND OPENING JULY 2026.
Donoho PROPERTIES, LLC
With a growing list of residential and commercial properties under ownership, DPi is becoming a regional leader in property management. The key to successful acquisition is strategic location, ready capital and long-term tenancy with strong partners.
BUSINESS ADVISORY
KERN RIVER DENTAL
A 20 Year dental practice in Los Angeles was struggling. When started, there were thirty-five dentists serving the Calabassas region. Twenty years later, celebrities flooded the local area, and the competitive landscape blossomed to over 144 offices. Too many dentists and too few patients
Working with the owner/ dentist, we discussed their forecast, objectives, and retirement horizon. Rather than butt heads with 144 offices, we moved her office back to her hometown of 15,000 residents in central California. The only competition was two offices, both with dentists in their 80’s.
First year profits matched her best year ever in Los Angeles. Over the four years of her practice, her revenues and profits have tripled, her quality of life has increased and she is on track for retirement.
So I married her….
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP
LASER MARKING SPECIALISTS
A brilliant engineer with deep experience in aviation markets created a laser marking company at the advent of the market. Armed with contracts with the US Navy, Haas, Lycoming, Boeing and others, they had a base business, but they lacked the infrastructure for growth and sustainability.
DCi became a partner in LMS, providing capital and infrastructure. We allocated resources to enable the company production to be consistent rather than “feast or famine”. We expanded our client reach beyond industrial and aircraft, building a client base across all segments of the market.
DCi found a suitable partner with complimentary infrastructure and we exited LMS, leaving a healthy and robust business for the original founder.
BRAND DEVELOPMENT/ PARTNERSHIP
GRINDSTONE EQUIPMENT
A chance meeting with Chuck Connelly, North Americas only Master Glover, and founder of Ironclad and Youngstown Glove companies. Innovator of NASA astronaut gloves, ski gloves, work gloves and more. A master of hand articulation. A friendship that lasted his lifetime and produced a partnership with DCi in his most successful venture, Grindstone Equipment.
DCi had a strong existing industrial and power utility market, and Chuck had an idea to revolutionize power utility gloves away from the antiquated gloves in current use, and into a performance, oriented hand protection. Our partnership was a fast-moving bullet train of activity.
In our first year, we were awarded contracts with Edison, PG&E, Duke Energy, Salt River Project and many more national power utility companies. In our second year we opened Law Enforcement markets with a revolutionary glove design that is in use by every law enforcement and military agency in America.
DCi sold our shares in the company back to Chuck in year five, and today, Youngstown Gloves exclusively distributes Chucks designs.
MARKET DEVELOPMENT
MILITARY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
In the early 2000’s the recreation market was developing revolutionary product, fabrics and technologies, but the industry was anti-law enforcement and military. During this period, the Army was still using pack technology from the 1960’s. Special Forces were trying to buy technical outdoor brands, but these companies were strictly anti-military.
DCi hosted a round table at the Kelty Pack Factory in Boulder Colorado. Present were the top decision makers from the Navy Seals and DevGroup. We invited manufacturers from Cascade Designs, MSR, Princeton Tech, Seal Line, Adventure Medical, SOG Knives and others. On day one we previewed a new type of SOF operators pack and as a group, we carried samples up the rigged peaks of Colorado. Returning, we discussed new modifications that were necessary. Each night, our sample team modified the pack to need, and the next morning morning we loaded those packs and attacked a different local Colorado mountain. Each day brought us closer to a final pack, which became the dominant 3 day assault pack for all Special Ops Teams. Our design has been copied by every pack manufacturer in the industry.
During the day we presented and modified product from each of our representative manufacturers. At the end of our five day event we had revolutionized the connection between the technical outdoor community and our nations warfighters.
Within two years, the US Military was the largest single customer for EVERY manufacturer present, representing hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. We ushered in a movement of technical outdoor leaning in to military rather than away from it.
SOG KNIVES
Lets talk about brilliant designers. Spencer Frazer, an aerospace engineer, took an existing special ops knife and elevated it to art in the form of the SOG Seal Knife (and the Seal Pup). Over the next many years, his company developed some of the most revolutionary knives in existence, and pioneered many of the technologies in todays highest end tactical knives. Our job was to leverage our relationship with the SEAL teams to develop and design new knives that were task-specific, and put them into the hands of special team operators around the globe. Over the next nine years, we were the driving force behind SOGS tremendous growth. We stayed with the brand until Spencer sold it. We continue to be fierce advocates of the SOG brand.
