OKC-based Beam's Industries accomplishes more than longevity

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Nov 28, 2005 by Brandice J. Armstrong

Once upon a time before seat belts were mandatory for automobiles, they were an amenity Beam's Industries manufactured for individual requests.

Seat belts were something people were talking about, said Mike Bosley, president of Beam's Industries, 50 years after founder Tom Beam began adding seat belts to his inventory at the service station at the corner of 13th Street and Robinson Avenue where he was already installing seat covers.

Mr. Beam drilled holes in the floor of the car, mounted the seat belt in the floor that way. He thought it would be a great business to get into, he was already working in that part of the car, Bosley said.

Beam's 60 staffers today continue to manufacture and sew seat belts manually. Despite technological advances, the seat belt manufacturing industry does not rely on machines.

We still require people, Bosley said. It's a manual process by nature.

Beam's has between 600 and 700 customers worldwide using the seat belts primarily for heavy construction and agricultural equipment.

I have a standing order of 150 seat belts a week and most of the time it's more than that, said Pete Sawatzky, owner of Route 66 Restoration Supplies in Stroud and a wholesaler of Beam's for about 10 years. They make four or five kinds and I buy them all.

Last year, between January to December, Beam's had 22 percent growth in revenue - It's our best year ever, Bosley said.

Beam's attributes its success to Christian values and its employees.

We don't focus completely on the bottom line, Bosley said. We think how it will affect the employee first and then everything else will fall in place.

Throughout 2006, Beam's plans to debut several new products including RetractaStrap, a cargo tie-down restraint, and items made out of seat belt webbing, such as hammocks, bags and camping accessories.