SNOWFALL MAKES GROUNDBREAKING EASIER
By GLEN SEEBER
Neighbor Newspapers Staff
After the weekend’s snow fall, the ground was moist and ready for the first shovels at noon Monday, and within moments the ground-breaking ceremony was complete.
Already in the beginning stages of construction at 2000 W. Tacoma in
the Greenway Business Park is a $3 million, 36,000 square foot building
that will soon house the corporate headquarters of RL Hudson.
“We are a supplier of custom-molded rubber and plastic components,” Rick
Hudson, president, said prior to the ceremony.
These components can be found in products carrying the brand names of WeedEater, DitchWitch, Mercruiser, Poulan, Coleman, Rubbermaid, E-Z-Go, Brass Eagle, Jacuzzi, and Bombardier among others.
Hudson said the company employs about 55 people, and has facilities in South Carolina and Arkansas as well as Tulsa. As he and others prepared to turn over the dirt for the ground-breaking ceremony, Hudson said the planned structure is proof that business and local government can work together. “We all worked together and will create an especially beautiful facility,” he said.
Participants in the ceremony included Hudson; Mike McNulty, vice president for finance; Roger Stair, chief operations officer; Broken Arrow Mayor Jim Reynolds; Ted Allison, president of the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce; Barry Belt of Belt Architects; Rick Willhour of F&M Bank, and Jim Freeman of CBCI, the contractor.
Also present were representatives of the City of Broken Arrow, Triad Bank, Sanders Engineering, Woody Design, Pittman Poe, and JulyInk. The company expects to move into its new facility by December. It is currently located at 9504 E. 55th Place in Tulsa.
The company doesn’t make products – it designs them, and they are manufactured in the United States, Asia and Mexico, Hudson said.
Founded in 1980, the company has experienced an average 15 percent growth rate over the past two decades. Sales in 2002 totaled $17 million, and projected sales this year total $19 million.
Part of the company’s recent growth – nearly 30 percent – Hudson attributed to doubling the engineering staff size.
“A lot of big companies have scaled back their in-house engineering departments, so they appreciate the fact that we can step in and fill that void.” He said.
A company spokesperson said one of the engineers speaks Chinese, and along wth a consulting engineer who also speaks the language, is instrumental in working with Chinese manufacturers to provide hoses, shaft seals and custom-molded parts.
“Quality is another critical area that is closely related to engineering.” Hudson said.
The company employs five people in the quality assurance department, and the quality manager is also an engineer.
RL Hudson has been ISO 9001 certified for several years and now meets the requirements for QS 9000 certification which is the U.S. quality standard for the automotive industry.
© 2003 Neighbor Newspapers
Note: This is an edited version of an article that appeared in the February 10, 2003 edition of the Broken Arrow Daily Ledger.
