IN
1992, Rob Ikola started a two-person utility trailer
manufacturing operation in a converted barn located on
his property. The small operation expanded to three people
when Brandon, his 16-year-old son, joined the team. As the
operation continued to grow, Ikola’s wife, Tammy, even quit her
career in insurance to focus on the small, family business as the
full-time Office Manager.
That small, family business, known as Fabform Industries, Inc., has
grown to a 35-employee business located in a 45,000 square-foot
facility in the Pacific Northwest. Fabform Industries, Inc. now
manufactures utility trailers and horse trailers under the names
“Versatile” and “Vision” respectively.
After learning every role within the company and graduating
from college, Brandon assumed a leadership role in late 2013 by
taking the mantle of General Manager and Vice President from
his father. Just as Brandon spent his time with the company in
his youth, his son, 5-year-old “future CEO” Tyson, does the same
and is often found at the facility with his father and grandparents.
Tyson’s nameplate has already been made for him to one day
take the mantle from his own father.
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“I learned the ropes
of the trailer industry
from my parents and,
if my son is interested
in the future, I would
hope to get the
opportunity to pass
that knowledge on,”
Brandon explains. “We have grown over the years, but we
have made it a point to keep a “close knit” family style culture
in which everybody feels they have a voice and are valued as
individuals.”
For this forward-thinking, family business, the future of the
company, intended to pass down from generation to generation,
is always an important focus. Fabform Industries, Inc. strives
to reduce their carbon footprint. As such, they have installed a
solar-powered system to reduce electricity costs, incorporated
a paint resolver, use a closed-loop recycling phosphate wash
system in the prep process before painting and are in the
process of incorporating lean manufacturing throughout the
facility.
NATDA Magazine www.natda.org