When Barry Mower was looking for a basketball standard in 1972, he couldn't find anything he liked or didn't like the materials they were made from.
So he bought some materials and built a basketball standard for his yard. It turned out better than expected so he sold it and borrowed $180 to buy more materials.He built more basketball standards and soon his business venture was on its way.
It was a modest beginning for Mower and his wife, Kathy, who have been named small-business people of the year for Utah by the Small Business Administration and will compete with other state winners May 6-12 in Washington, D.C., during Small Business Week.
Barry told those attending an awards luncheon Monday he soon ran out of space at his home for drying the paint on the backboards of the standards and outlined his initial problems of attending college, having seven children and trying to run a business from his home.
In 1978, the Mowers purchased a new home and in 1986 he designed a device for a basketball standard that would lower the backboard to a height where smaller people could dunk the ball.
Lifetime Products was formed in 1986 to manufacture and market the adjustable basketball standards and today it is the second largest basketball equipment manufacturer in the country. It has annual sales of $11 million and employs 167 people in the Freeport Center.
Other award winners were:
- Marilyn Tang, founder of Certified Interior Systems, SBA Advisory Council Award.
- Fred H. Stringham, former president of Valley Bank and Trust Co. and vice president of Olympus Capital Corp., financial services advocate.
- Ann Erickson, academic vice president of Salt Lake Community College, women in business advocate.
- Tom N. Hori, owner of REDCON-Resource Data Consultants, minority advocate.
- Richard W. Kearl, retired businessman, volunteer of the year for the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
- Jennie Christensen, a reporter for KVNU Radio, Logan, media advocate.