Source: Robbins Sports Surfaces
Cincinnati-based Robbins Sports Surfaces’ Wisconsin plant hits century mark, commemorating successes from grassroots beginnings
WHITE LAKE, WI – November 20, 2017 – Robbins Sports Surfaces, an international leader in sports flooring, is celebrating its 100th anniversary at its White Lake, Wisconsin manufacturing plant. Originally a sawmill carved out of the upper Wisconsin wilderness in the early 1900s, the plant now – 100 years later – offers sustainably harvested hardwoods used in world-class sports. Fifteen of 30 NBA teams including the Cavaliers, Lakers, Spurs and Pacers, as well as storied NCAA teams such as Duke, UCLA, North Carolina and Kentucky, all play on Robbins Sports Surfaces. Since 1976, Robbins Sports Surfaces has also installed flooring at the Olympics and Olympic training centers.
Robbins’ rich history, achievements and global reach started a century ago with pioneering lumber titans, including the founders of the Yawkey-Bissell Lumber Company, predecessor to Robbins. These early innovators built one of the most advanced and modern sawmills at White Lake, laying dummy line railroads out into the timber, where it was harvested and brought into the mill at White Lake. The logs were stored in the lake, then drawn out and sawed into lumber.
In addition to being an integral part of the lumber industry, the plant helped establish the town of White Lake and has been a leading employer to generations of hard-working, dedicated employees.
“Robbins has been really important to this community over the years,” said Robbins Vice President of Manufacturing John Williams. “Many of the homes were actually built by the company years ago. It has just been a tremendous impact on the overall development of this community and area.”
Watch this video to learn more about the history and 100 year anniversary of the Robbins White Lake mill:
About Robbins Sports Surfaces
Robbins Sports Surfaces, a division of Robbins, Inc., is a privately held, 4th generation family-owned flooring company based in Cincinnati, OH with sales offices across the U.S. and manufacturing plants in Michigan and Wisconsin.
The NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers play on a Robbins Sports Surfaces “All Star” brand floor at their home court, Quicken Loans Arena, and practice on more than 18,000 sq. ft. of the company’s “Bio-Channel Classic” flooring, one of the top floor choices among NBA franchises. The Cavs have played home games on Robbins floors since 1974.
More NBA teams compete and train on Robbins flooring than all other competitors combined, with 90% of NBA teams owning the company’s competition and/or training facility floors. Past NCAA men’s basketball champions Connecticut, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and North Carolina play their home games on a Robbins floor.
Robbins Inc. has registered 25 patents over the years, with additional patents pending, and is the only U.S. flooring manufacturer with a full-time research and product development staff. Robbins’ unique capability and understanding of the biomechanical interaction between the athlete or performer and floor have recently led to new designs that reduce vibration and increase uniformity, both of which improve performance, comfort and safety.
In addition to Robbins Sports Surfaces, Robbins, Inc. is also the owner of Stoehr Flooring, a high-end residential flooring business, and majority owner of Egis Floorlife, an innovative after-market service business. Robbins also has a theater and dance floor division known as Robbins Performing Arts, which is dedicated to the development of performing arts floor systems that enhance the safety and comfort of performers.
For more information about each of Robbins divisions, please visit http://www.robbinsfloor.com/, http://robbinsdancefloors.com/,http://www.stoehrflooring.com/, and http://egisfloorlife.com/.
