Reshaping Specialty Shutter Manufacturing - continued

Forming North American Sunburst
In September 1999, Morse started North American Sunburst, enlisting the help of Bill Holloway, an accomplished local craftsman and master of specialty work. "I knew that whatever I couldn't figure out, Bill could," says Morse. And he was right; besides traditional sunbursts, Morse and Holloway's computer numerically controlled (CNC) machinery can automatically produce circle and oval shutters to custom specifications.

When the new business began production, Morse's former competitors became customers. Neighboring shutter manufacturers quickly realized that North American Sunburst, with its unique technology, could produce seven specialty-shape shutters in the time it took their own craftsmen to produce just one.

In addition to manufacturing beautiful shutters in any shape and size, and making them decorator-ready (paint-primed) or installation-ready (finish-painted) per customer specifications, Morse and company consider themselves a service organization. "We bend over backwards for our customers and friends," says Morse. "In fact, shutter manufacturers who have their own specialty department have called upon us to 'save their bacon' on a number of occasions."

It was Morse's willingness to help others that set him on course for yet another exceptional business opportunity. When, in January 2001, he received a call from a stranger who wanted to learn about the plantation-shutter industry, Morse didn't brush him off. Instead he opened his door, and ultimately those of many others, to this lumber and millwork manufacturer from Wisconsin.

Tom Talbot, CEO of Glen Oak Lumber & Milling, believed there was an opportunity to parlay his large millwork company's success at finger-jointing, molding, and priming hardwood interior trim, into producing and selling superior shutter parts. But, since he knew little about the dynamics of the shutter industry itself, he set out to call on some of Naples' numerous shutter manufacturers to see what he could learn.

"I literally picked Ted's company out of the yellow pages," Tom Talbot recounts with a grin, "and he turned out to be a great resource. He was friendly, and open to my inquiry. When I visited his shop, I was immediately impressed with his sunbursts and the technology he'd developed to produce them. Ted shortened our learning curve in the shutter industry considerably and was instrumental to our rapid success when we introduced Arrow-Straight F.J.® Shutter Components."

North American Sunburst and Glen Oak began to work together, to the benefit of both. They collectively presented their products to a large and receptive audience in April 2002, sharing booth space at the International Window Coverings EXPO. "The show was a turning point for my company," says Morse. "It broke us out of just working in the Florida area and exposed us to customers nationwide and beyond."

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Shop Leader Bill Holloway programs CNC technology to automatically cut shutter frames to customer specs, with unparalleled speed
and precision.

Used on accent windows, in combination with panel shutters, and/or other window treatments, North American Sunburst specialty-shape shutters complete a look of timeless elegance.