Mike Charlton defines success on his own terms

November 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

Mike Charlton begins most weekdays with a leisurely cup of coffee on his back porch with his wife and business partner, Rachel Charlton, in Yorktown, Va. They typically leave for work by 9 a.m., where they fabricate custom marine canvas projects until 5 p.m.—at the latest.
Read More
Mission Critical

October 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

Call it a business founded on frustration and driven by inspiration. Spiritus Systems, which supplies nylon tactical gear for law enforcement, military personnel and other customers, started as an idea that took root on the side of a mountain in the Hindu Kush range in Afghanistan, where reliable ge…
Read More
Technotense leader takes DIY approach

August 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

When Cesar Eloy Pérez founded Technotense in 2019, he wanted to create a company that would professionalize the industry of designing, building and installing lightweight tensile structures.
Read More
Mike Kallas helps Roeming Industries navigate change

May 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

Since pandemic-related effects reduced the sewing workforce that Mike Kallas leads from 20 employees to fewer than 10, he has been earnestly seeking new sewers for his team. But you might not know it based on the job listings he posts—not if you’re new to the industrial fabrics industry, that is…
Read More
A focus on what we do best

April 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

If a college friend hadn’t had extra space in a harborside building he was renting in downtown Bellingham, Greg Keeler may have never started up Washington-based marine canvas company Oyster Creek Canvas Co.
Read More
Passion and pride

March 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

You may not have heard of Taiyo Kogyo Corp., based in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, but you probably have a tangential relationship with the company through one of its 37 subsidiaries spread across 13 countries. Or maybe you’ve seen one of its hundreds of fabric structure projects around the world. Foun…
Read More
Exceeding expectations

February 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

Shari Albertson is vice president of sales at Austin Canvas & Awning, a commercial and residential awning manufacturer and installer in Charlotte, N.C. She has over 15 years of awning sales experience and is the qualifying representative for the company’s general contractor’s licenses in Nor…
Read More
Growth path

January 1, 2022  |  Features, Perspective

Like many textile entrepreneurs, Amy Bircher got her start in the industry in a family business—even as she blazed her own path.
Read More
Hoover Architectural Products blends fabric, metal

October 29, 2021  |  Features, Perspective

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” contains a lot of truth, but there’s also a risk of stagnation if a company doesn’t adapt to changing times. When the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, Matt Carroll knew it was time for his family’s fabric-awning business to stretch its capabilitie…
Read More