Hiwasse Manufacturing Co.

Hiwasse Manufacturing Co. started in 1947 as a lawn furniture manufacturer. But the company couldn’t get the steel and never produced a piece of lawn furniture. Hiwasse – which, the company says, is a Cherokee word for pleasant place or sunny spot – survived by making caskets and toys, said Richard Derickson, the company’s president and CEO.

Derickson co-owns the company with his father, John Derickson, who founded the company and is still the chairman of the board. The big break for Hiwasse came in the early 1960s when an appliance manufacturer asked if Hiwasse could make appliance tags and labels. Hiwasse could and found its niche.

Hiwasse now manufactures decorative trim and other stamped metal parts for the appliance, automotive and consumer markets at its 40,000-SF plant in Jacksonville. It has grown from $1.5 million in sales in 1998 to $10 million in 2007, Richard Derickson said. The company’s sales currently are flat because of the slump in the housing market, to which the company is linked.

Hiwasse also faces fierce price competition, especially from China. “Price pressures are just incredible,” Derickson said. “I mean tenths and hundredths of a penny count. The margins are very thin.”

To compete, Hiwasse always is searching for low-cost suppliers and more productivity through employees or automation. Derickson said the company has been successful because of determination.

Hiwasse was named the 2007 Arkansas Family-Owned Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Derickson said he expects to double the size of the business in the next three to five years. “We still believe we have a lot of opportunity in the appliance industry,” he said, “but also in other markets we’re currently exploring.” Derickson declined to identify those other markets.