To celebrate this Independence Day, a family-owned business is having a sale on their own trademarked American Flags.
FF Manufacturing Inc. is a corporation that has been in business for almost 30 years, but was recently bought by the Ford family in February. The business is local and fully United States made. To celebrate the Fourth of July, they are having a 15% sale on all of their American flags.
What sets the Ford family’s flags apart is that they are trademarked as “Storm Tough,” an invention made by the corporation’s original founder. To make the flag storm resistant, a polyester seam is sewn into the tail end of the flag and is called lock stitching. Seth Ford, owner of FF Manufacturing, says that’s where a flag experiences the most abuse. He claims that by reinforcing the end, the flag lasts longer.
The company is family owned and prides itself on making all its products in the US. The new owners officially bought the corporation in February of this year, and renamed it FF Manufacturing, with the “FF” standing for Ford family.
Seth and Natalie Ford run the business and are parents of five children, with their oldest being 12–years–old, and the youngest only being 11–months.
The Fords’ have been wanting to be self-employed for a while and knew the previous owners of the company for a few years. They saw buying the business as a good opportunity and liked the industry it was in.
The corporation does not have a storefront currently, but Seth sees benefits with entirely being online.
“We can take it anywhere,” he said. The range of prices for their products is $20–$250.
FF Manufacturing has already sold one of their American flags in Keizer to The REC. The Ford Family suggests to support local business, and for Keizer customers to do local pickup. Seth doesn’t want to discourage Keizer residents by having the store online, and says that the company can do free local pickup.
“They can save on shipping,” Natalie said.
The recent owners have been continuing to sell other products that came with the business as well, such as the multi use wonder pole. The Fords have added one design of their own though, called the Road Waiver. It’s a hitch that can be attached to the back of a vehicle to hold a flag pole.
Since becoming self employed, the Ford family has gotten a lot more flexibility and freedom of time in their lives. Especially when homeschooling their children, it’s an important benefit that owning a company has given them.
“We’ve learned a lot of teamwork,” Seth said. Natalie and Seth split the work of the business between them, they also have one other employee for FF Manufacturing.
Mike Hill is an employee of FF Manufacturing and has worked with the company for almost a year, but says his favorite part of the job is working with the current owner.
“We can have fun but still get our work done,” he said. Hill says he does a lot of labor work and makes sure that the company’s products are good before shipping.
“It’s really about keeping happy customers and building a network of relationships through good business,” Hill said.
FF Manufacturing can be reached through ffmanufacturing.com or by calling 1-503-585-1179