Business View Magazine | June 2022

41 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 6 Clarke Product business, Clarke admits, “COVID was difficult for us but we just dealt with it. Being in Texas, we were fortunate because the state didn’t close us down. However, the City of Waco, where our plant is located, shut down all production in the early stage of the pandemic because nobody really knew what to do. Well, we manufacture tubs for a lot of other manufacturers – Kohler Company, being one. And with us closed down, it was going to affect our ability to produce for them. So they stepped in, called the City of Waco, and declared us a critical supplier to them, and the city lifted the restriction on us and we were allowed to continue. Kohler is a large employer here in the state. Their largest manufacturing plant (over 1 R elax, rejuvenate, enjoy! Clarke Products, Inc. is a priv tely-owned designer and manufacturer of innovative and sophisticated showers, bathtubs, sinks, wash basins, and whirlpool products. The firm was founded in 1984 by Donald Clarke (current President & CEO), who purchased a bankrupt whirlpool bath business and began a new venture producing acrylic shower pans and tubs. Today, at its headquarters in a 210,000-square- foot facility in Waco, Texas, the company leads the way as a premier manufacturer of acrylic and solid surface bathing products. Discussing the impact of the pandemic on his