Greater Statesville Development Corporation

-- Brian Lish and Jane Shuutmat don't look like super heroes, but to the fifty employees of Jasper Library Furniture, they are most definitely heroic figures. To understand why, you have to go back two years. In December of 2007, locally-owner furniture manufacturer Blanton and Moore was purchased by Indiana-based Jasper Seating. B&M produced high quality furniture and fixtures for schools and libraries, and Jasper believed this product line was a good fit with their existing lines of seating products. Shortly thereafter, Jasper opened a second North Carolina facility in Taylorsville. Then the economic downturn hit and orders decreased significantly. Compounding this, the distance between the corporate offices in Indiana and the North Carolina plants made efficient management difficult.

 

By the spring of 2009, Jasper was seriously considering closing one or both of the North Carolina facilities. That's when Brian and Jane entered the picture. As senior managers with Jasper, both had spent significant time at the plants and saw the potential they offered in terms of skilled workforce and defined product niche. With the support of their spouses, they began crunching the numbers on buying the two plants back from Jasper and operating them as an independent company once again.

 

Shortly thereafter, they contacted the GSDC and asked for assistance. Along with Uconda Dunn of the NC Department of Commerce, we met with Brian and Jane and made several referrals in the areas of financing, training, marketing and legal. We also made them aware of several state programs designed specifically to assist small and mid-size businesses such as theirs to local resources.

 

In July, the deal closed and Jasper Library Furniture was born. Since then, the company has developed a training program in conjunction with our partners at Mitchell Community College and has purchased new equipment, signed an important export deal and improved the landscaping and housekeeping at the Troutman facility. Perhaps more importantly, they plan to keep the workforce at the current level for the foreseeable future, and in these difficult times, that counts as a win.