Crawford County Business Spotlight: Wurm's Woodworking
Posted on Thu, Jul 28, 2011 @ 12:45 PM
Wurm’s Woodworking was established in 1947 in the village of New Washington, Ohio.
Still family-operated, the relatively small manufacturing business has made big progress in recent years.
The company is now a registered precision fabricator of cut-to-size component products from engineered, composite and plywood panels (as well as high pressure laminates and polymer sheet materials).
Wurm’s also uses membrane press technology, which creates 3-D profiles that normally require separate edge molding treatment. Its plastics division vacuum forms (thermoforms) plastic and vinyl products for various industries.
But, that’s not all. According to Valerie Sanderson, treasurer of Wurm’s Woodworking, “the name of our company does not … imply about all we do here.”
Growth by acquistion
Six years ago, Wurm’s Woodworking acquired a new division they named GR Golf. This division serves the recreational and sport vehicle markets with seat covers, cushions and related products, fit for golf carts and vehicles such as EZ-Go, Club Car and Yamaha.
GR Golf provides thermoformed vinyl seat covers and plastic shells, CNC fabricated wood substrates and complete cushion assemblies, such as rear golf car seating and replacement front seats for many models. A conventional style cushion is composed of a supportive wood substrate, contour cut high density polyurethane foam, seamless vinyl covering and often a plastic back cap.
“GR Golf is actually a combination of the capabilities we, over the years, have developed here at Wurm’s,” said Sanderson.
Bringing more business to Crawford County
Prior to GR Golf’s Crawford County location, the product line was based in Painesville, Ohio. For fifteen years, a truck ventured to New Washington to pick up manufactured pieces to be upholstered, packaged and sold throughout the eastern United States.
Now, distributors turn to this division of Wurm’s Woodworking for optional value-added packaging, such as barcoding, plastic bagging of individual covers and individual boxing of cushions. Though GR Golf does not service retail, consumer or golf courses directly, the company maintains a large inventory for same day delivery to cart dealers throughout North America. The products are also shipped internationally.
Growing in Crawford County
The growth of GR Golf has proven to be a tremendous success for the native Crawford County business. In six years, the sales in this division have increased sixfold – a major accomplishment that company president Jerry Wurm attributes to targeted sales and marketing strategies.
“Over the years, Wurm’s has had to adapt to many situations. If you go way back, we started fabricating box spring frames. So as the market evolved … there were other applications in Crawford County,” said Wurm. “As times changed we had to also.”
Sanderson says the decision to take on GR Golf was the right one for Wurm’s Woodworking – a decision that has positively impacted New Washington and Crawford County, as well.
“It’s brought quite a few jobs to our business … it continues to grow. We don’t believe we’ve penetrated the entire market yet,” said Sanderson. “In six years, this product line’s sales have grown by six times, despite the recent recession.
“Crawford County has been the ideal location for us in all of our product lines.”