Jasper Seating Changes Name to Jasper Group
New Name Reflects New Growth and Opportunity
JASPER, Ind., November --, 2007—Jasper Seating, a producer of commercial furniture for 79 years, has announced it will change its name to Jasper Group, effective January 2008. Company sources say the name change to Jasper Group shows the company produces a wide array of furniture products, and has a wide array of production resources. The company is privately held and will retain its current ownership under the new name.
“We’re much more than seating, and it’s time our corporate name reflected that,” said Mike Elliott, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board at Jasper Group. “We’ve experienced tremendous growth as a company in the last few years, and the change this will bring should make us more competitive among top tier commercial furniture companies,” Elliott said.
The company currently sells office seating and case goods under JSI for the office market, Community for the school and institutional market, and Klem for the hospitality market.
While many furniture makers have shuttered their operations or consolidated manufacturing overseas, Jasper Group has continued to find a niche producing high-quality, American-made, custom, commercial seating and case goods. The company’s sales have grown at a consistent rate of 10 to 15 percent each year for the last decade, Elliott said, and shows no sign of slowing down.
To meet the growing demand, Jasper Group has unrolled some important new initiatives over the last few months, including:
- The construction of a new 15,000 square foot showroom at its corporate campus in Jasper, Indiana. Showcasing more than 50 collections, it is designed to show how the company’s products can be used in nearly any kind of commercial application. It is also the home of Jasper Group’s new Product Design Team, which will work to create cutting-edge designs, and be a key part of the company tour for designers, customers and architects.
- The purchase of the former Blanton & Moore production facility in Barium Springs, North Carolina. In addition to the machinery and experienced employees at the plant, Jasper Group gained much needed capacity for making library products at this location.
- The consolidation of its brands. The company jettisoned its Vintage and Liberty furniture brands in favor of investing in their growing entities, namely JSI, Community and Klem. No jobs were lost during this transition, as workers were reassigned to meet the burgeoning demand for the remaining products.
“This is clearly one of the most exciting times in our company’s history,” Elliott said. “I am looking forward to the great things we will accomplish as Jasper Group,” he added.
Jasper Seating was founded in 1929 in Jasper, Indiana, an area of the country founded by German immigrants with a long history of furniture-building craftsmanship. That tradition lives on in the company’s many well-known commercial furniture brands, including JSI, an office, seating and case goods furniture division; Community, an institutional product division; and Klem Hospitality, a custom manufacturer of case goods for hotels and resorts. More detailed product catalogs and lists of sales representatives can be found by visiting www.jasperseating.com.
