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October 1936
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Take any lazy
autumn morning after the duck season opens, when the sun is shafting down
through an early morning haze and the leaves are turning the countryside
into a painter's paradise. Imagine a quiet slough, surrounded by a few
gentle hills…quiet, that is, except for the odd labored breathing from two
hunters wading through the thick gumbo at the edge of the slough, dragging a
huge gunnysack of heavy wooden duck decoys between them while perspiration
drips down their backs. Imagine the men to be John L. Feusner Sr. and his
duck hunting partner, and you have the story of the birth of a multi-million
dollar idea . . . the collapsible rubber duck decoy . . . and the beginning
of a rubber products manufacturing business started 67 years ago. Mr. John
L. Feusner Sr. established Intermountain Rubber Company in Salt Lake City
Utah to manufacture Deeks , the worlds first mass produced duck
decoy, bringing a high quality, reasonably priced, easy to carry and set-up
duck decoy to the average duck hunter. The business flourished during the
pre-war years with sales of Deeks rubber duck decoys exceeding 40,000
dozen duck decoys annually by 1940. With the start of World War II and the
American involvement in that conflict, production was stopped as all Natural
Rubber supplies were allocated to the war effort.
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Mr. Feusner enlisted in the United
States Navy for a 4 year period and proudly served his country during the
war years. With the coming of peace, he returned to Salt Lake City and began
to pick up the pieces of his fledging rubber manufacturing business. |
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Business again flourished. The post
war years saw the product line expand to include the DuraDuck rubber
duck decoy, goose decoys, gun pads and bellows for bird calls. By the middle
of the 1950's rubber glove production was added to the factory in Salt Lake
City. As the business expanded, so did Salt Lake City. Mr. Feusner found it
necessary to relocate the company. In 1960 Mr. Feusner relocated the
business to Salem, Oregon. |
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In 1972, Mr. Feusners'
son, John L. Feusner Jr. joined the company. In 1974 Mr. Feusner Sr.
retired from the business at the age of 67. The decade of the 1970's saw
the business continue to grow and expand. Many new products were
developed and introduced.
In 1983, Mr. Feusner Jr. was approached by ANSELL with the intent of
their purchasing certain assets of the business. A successful sale was
completed between ANSELL and Mr. Feusner Jr. Mr. Feusner agreed to work
with ANSELL for a few years to help them during the transitional period
where they melded the assets purchased into their business. |
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By 1988, Mr. Feusner Jr. had fulfilled
his obligations with ANSELL regarding the sale in 1983. Mr. Feusner was then
able to concentrate full time on the continued growth of the business. |
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Manufacturing capacity was
expanded several times in Salem Oregon resulting in the current facility
of approximately 30,000 square feet of "state-of-the-art" manufacturing,
R & D, and corporate offices. In 1999, Mr. Feusner established a
manufacturing facility in Tecate Mexico. This facility has over 40,000
square feet of manufacturing and office space. The Tecate facility
provides a low-cost manufacturing facility located in North America a
short 45 minute drive from downtown San Diego California. |
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Today, ISA CORPORATION is
a multinational company with over 70,000 square feet of manufacturing,
engineering, design, R & D, and office space, capacity in excess of 100
million dipped parts annually, "state-of-the-art" production equipment,
fabrication facilities, and executive management with well over 100 years of
combined experience, knowledge and expertise in all areas of the rubber
dipping industry. Jason Feusner, the grandson of Mr. Feusner Sr. is actively
involved with the company representing a "Third Generation", 67 year family
history in the rubber business. |
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