Clarke Products Inc.

“The whirlpool business was growing rapidly in the mid-‘80s.There were several other companies that did the same thing, so my entrance into the business was not necessarily, or exclusively, oriented toward whirlpool baths. Unlike most of my competi- tors, I did not refer to ourselves as being a ‘whirlpool bath’ or a ‘therapy tub’maker, but just a maker of products, because I didn’t knowwhat the future would bring and I wanted to have a mental flexibil- ity going into this venture. “We started operations and went through the growing difficulties of a brand new company.The assets of the company I bought had no add-on cus- tomers from their legacy; we didn’t get any of their business, so everything we did was from scratch –dealing with new customers, new products–and the first fewyears were pretty tough until we got going.We were well-financed, though, from the very get-go; we had venture funding so we were able to handle the negatives of the first fewyears. “One of the first things that we did, that was a bit unique,was we were the first people in North Amer- ica to make acrylic shower pads; until that time they were made from lesser materials that tended to