Founding a company with the express interest of helping others battle ailments you’ve experienced and overcome is a noble gesture that fits Unique Sleep’s beginnings and future goals perfectly. After living with serious back pain for years, owner Chris Whatley embarked on weekly trips to a chiropractor, followed by the realization that his bed was causing many of his ongoing issues. Chris and his wife Irene’s subsequent investigation into the world of mattresses led to a successful business that not only helped him, but many clients as well.

Building a company foundation on foam is something G&T Industries has done successfully for 66 years, starting in 1954 with office seating foam and gradually expanding to polyurethane foam fabrication in the packaging, furniture, medical, transportation, military, electronics, HVAC, athletic and marine markets. The company prides itself on a number of achievements, including its three locations, its dedication to resolving complex customer issues, and its laudable ESOP status as a 100 percent employee-owned company.

Focusing on the manufacturing, development, design, and distribution of fluid conveyance products, Polyhose, Inc.’s history of success as a leader in the field continues with its latest achievement: the opening of its newest location in North Carolina. As the company continues to forge ahead with state-of-art facilities and innovative product offerings, its dedication to providing quality service and goods, while placing both customers and employees at the forefront, remains impressive on both a local and worldwide scale.

When you’ve been in business for almost 50 years, you learn not only how to keep your company productive and financially successful, but also how to maintain positive and healthy relationships with the people at the core of the business. Second generation family-owned Suburban Bolt and Supply, with four locations and 75 employees, fosters an atmosphere of inclusivity and friendliness, while maintaining its imperative focus on providing exceptional customer service and quality product.

In a world where customer service is not always a top priority for some big companies, CribMaster remains committed to not only maintaining quality care for its clients, but also to forging real relationships that extend beyond the confines of the business. Coupled with its ongoing commitment to true innovation in delivering exemplary inventory and asset management solutions, CribMaster puts its customers first from beginning to end, as a full-service provider of inventory management solutions.

Transitioning with the times is imperative for any company’s growth and success, especially when looking to welcome a brand new, blossoming industry into its repertoire. As the owner of the Wirtz Group employment agency in the early 90s, Karl Wirtz supplied temporary industrial staff to production facilities, and then weathered the recession with grit, determination and foresight, coming out the other side with knowledge used to create a new business model that would withstand the test of time.

Eric Kimmel is the first to say there’s plenty of competition in the nutrition food bar manufacturing business, be it natural, organic, functional, healthy, or diet, but the co-owner of Quebec’s Noble Foods has managed to successfully carve out a particular niche in the medium-sized manufacturing market, delivering superior service for customers needing hands-on involvement, quality control and company growth.

Family owned and operated since 1961, TIFCO Industries has maintained its ongoing commitment to Customers by providing them with personalized quality products and services to fulfill their industrial maintenance and repair operation needs.

Referring to her family’s history as “a typical immigrant story,” Redwood Classics CEO Kathy Cheng remembers spending a large part of her childhood in her parents’ textile business, playing, napping and doing homework amongst the huge rolls of fabrics in the factory. And to hear her recount it, she wouldn’t have it any other way: it’s made her the person and business owner she is today.

Take a family-owned company with years of experience in the manufacturing field, combine it with dedicated employees and skilled tradespeople who have been immersed in the industry for decades, and you have the values and capabilities Ascension Industries can offer its customers and clients.