LEHR, a leading emergency vehicle upfitter, has opened a new 40,000-square-foot facility in Houston, Texas, under its Defender Supply brand. The facility was built to meet increasing demand from law enforcement, emergency, and transportation agencies across Houston and the broader Texas market.

Defender Supply maintains direct partnerships with Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge, and Ram and their franchise dealerships around the world. In addition, Defender Supply holds master distributorships with all major equipment vendors.

“As part of our strategy to expand into new markets, we are thrilled to open this state-of-the-art facility to serve our growing customer base,” said Daniel Hamm, chief executive officer of LEHR. “In just one year, we’ve grown from six locations to 28 nationwide. The Houston facility marks an important milestone in our journey to scale from a regional provider into a true national platform.”

The new facility celebrated its grand opening on Oct. 8 and has already begun producing vehicles with multiple contracts secured in the area, and is expected to upfit thousands of vehicles annually for first responders and other government agencies.

The Houston expansion highlights the rising demand for emergency fleets driven by population growth and urban development, in addition to the industry’s shift toward scaled national platforms that can deliver consistent, high-quality services across multiple jurisdictions.

“Our expansion into the Greater Houston area is a direct response to customer demand,” said Eric Hove, president of Defender Supply, a LEHR company. “With this expansion, we are poised to strengthen our market presence, and we look forward to providing the emergency vehicle industry with best-in-class products that enable our first responders with the tools they need to succeed.”