East Texas Builds Solid Manufacturing Environment
Published Dec 15, 2008
World Research Co. in Tyler manufactures dry-erase boards for classrooms and ships its products around the globe.
Low tax rates, economic development incentives and easy access to transportation make East Texas a manufacturing hub. More importantly, the companies that start here tend to stay – and grow – here.
World Research Co., which manufactures dry-erase boards for classrooms, has shipped millions of its products around the globe and is a key customer to local suppliers of corrugated boxes and other packing supplies, as well as wood vendors and other raw-material manufacturers in the area.
Founded in 1970, the company has remained in Tyler, only moving across town when more space was needed.
“My parents bought a place at Lake Tyler and they just loved it here, so they came up with a reason to stay in the area,” says Colleen Hayes, company president. “We’re ingrained here now, both in terms of our supplier network and the community. We’ve been here forever and we have every plan to stay.”
Tyler is also home to Ryno Industries, a custom manufacturer of sporting bags with individualized team logos and colors. Founded in 1996 by Brandon Steele, president and chief executive, Ryno went on to purchase Athletic Bag Co. in 2001 and Shamrock Sports Bags in 2002, giving the company an established national presence in the athletic-bag market. The company also has expanded into commercial real estate development, middle-market investment banking, petrochemical engineering and construction through subsidiary companies.
Vu-Ryte Inc. has gone from being the first inhabitant of the Tyler Area Business Incubator in 1991 to a nationally recognized name in ergonomically designed computer and workstation accessories.
While the company has changed some product lines and revamped others in response to changing workstation configuration and innovations in flat-screen monitors and other computer accessories, all of its work is still done in Tyler, says Tom Ramey, president and chief executive officer.
“We were the first to build incremental stands that adjust in heights, and now if you go to the OSHA Web site and look at the office-ergonomics section there are pictures of our products,” Ramey says. “But hardware changes and furniture is reconfigured, so we’re retooling for flat panels and a few other things that we’ve discovered in our research.”
Making its products was easy compared to setting up a distribution network, something that Vu-Ryte continues to be able to do from East Texas.
“You probably could do this anywhere, but Tyler is my home, and it’s one of the great cities of America,” Ramey says. “We’re going back to our roots for our second generation of our company, and we’re doing it from here.”
Story by Joe Morris
Photo by Staff
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