Anyone who does contract work for a company realizes that at any time the work can be shipped elsewhere and he can be left holding the bag.
That is the situation Osborn Apparel, 7081 W. 3500 South, found itself in during 1994 when Pendleton Woolen Mills, Pendleton, Ore., decided it could have its world-famous shirts and other clothing items sewed in foreign countries cheaper than at Osborn Apparel.As some other companies have discovered, the North American Free Trade Agreement hurt many American businesses when their contract providers were allowed to process their products in countries with cheaper labor.
The closing of Osborn Apparel was a disappointment for Joseph Osborn, who was president, but an opening for his two brothers, Dave and Mark, who expanded their Osborn Speciality Sewing Inc. into space formerly occupied by Osborn Apparel.
Now, instead of doing contract work for others, Osborn Specialty Sewing is guiding its own destiny and competes favorably with products produced in Mexico because of good pricing and quick delivery time.
At an average of 28 percent growth in the past four years, Osborn Specialty ships its sports jerseys, pants, sport bras, spandex trunks, sliding pants and other active sports items all over the country. Dave, who is chairman of the board and semiretired at 49, predicts sales of $6.5 million this year.
Because of its growth and overcoming adversity, Osborn Speciality was honored by Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co. in 1995 in its Blue Chip Enterprise program and ranked 54th in the Moun-tain-West Venture Group's first list of Utah's fastest-growing companies for 1995.
The Osborn saga began in 1946 when Spencer H. Osborn started Osborn Apparel with several brothers in a 6,000-square-foot shop on Social Hall. Avenue. The firm did contract sewing work and had six sewing machine operators. In 1956, Osborn Apparel moved to 651 Simpson Ave., where workers sewed blouses and shirts for J.C. Penney and Sears Roebuck & Co.
The Osborn brothers started other factories in Heber City, Mt. Pleasant and Spanish Fork, with the brothers each managing a factory. In 1965, Spencer and Charles ran the operation on Simpson Avenue, while Lynn, David and Bill began calling their factories Utah Sportswear.
Osborn Apparel sewed for Pendleton for many years and was the only outside contractor the woolen clothing giant had. Other major clients were Eddie Bauer and swimwear-maker Jantzen.
The company did pretty well in the 1960s and moved to West Valley City in 1969 into a building that was going to be a bowling alley. The open building, with its cutting tables, sewing machines and storage area, was ideal for a sewing operation.
In the 1970s Osborn prospered: The company shipped between 5,000 and 10,000 Pendleton shirts and jackets weekly. The clothing was sold all over the world. Pendleton sent the fabric to Osborn, which used patterns to cut out material and provided the sewing labor.
Dave, who received a business management degree from the University of Utah in 1971, started with Osborn Apparel in 1976, eventually becoming manager. He got calls for specialty items and in 1976 started Osborn Specialty Sewing in a portion of the Osborn Apparel building.
Osborn Specialty Sewing's first contract was to provide shorts for a Bonnet Ball league. Later, he hired more sewers and
produced nylon wallets. At its peak, the business shipped 25,000 wallets per week. After that sewing project was sent overseas, Dave was looking at any contract work to keep the company going.
He left Osborn Apparel in 1980 and kept his own company going by sewing sporting goods between 1982 and 1989.
In 1989, Mark worked for Executive Sports and was a tournament director for the Professional Golfers Association, the Senior PGA and the Ladies PGA events. Executive Sports is a subsidiary of Golden Bear, a firm owned by golfer Jack Nicklaus. At 36 years old and single, Mark decided it was time to settle down so he accepted brother Dave's invitation to join Osborn Specialty Sewing.
Now, as president of the company, Mark is married and has children. He is a 1976 University of Utah graduate with a degree in business management. In August he received a master's degree from the U. Dave credits Mark with the company's success because of his ability to computerize the orders, purchase of inventory and organize the representatives who sell their products.
After Mark's arrival, sales representatives were terminated and new ones hired and trained. The management system and structure were changed, employees were trained in new skills, old equipment was replaced and better product development processes were started.
All of the changes resulted in a significant increase in production and quality, Mark said.
In addition to running his company, Dave became the first basketball coach at Salt Lake Community College in 1986 and remained there until 1989. His coaching expertise came from the time he was a walk-on for the freshman basketball team at the U. of U., an experience that ended with an injury.
Now that he is semi-retired, Dave and his wife, the former Robyn McDermott, like to travel to Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., to watch son Cade play basketball. Another son, Clayton, attends Brockbank Junior High School.
Dave also has three daughters, Kristyn, Kelsi and Kassidy, who are professional singers in Nashville, Tenn. Another daughter, Karli, is a seventh-grader.
While on the road, Dave does public relations for his company in the more than 3,500 dealers carrying the clothing.
Mark and wife Pam have a young family, Breanne, 4; Dylan, 2; and Austin, 10 months.
Other family members helping the Osborn cause are Joseph; sisters Patti Osborn and Judy Nisson, and brother-in-law, Terry Nisson.
Dave and Mark credit their success to the work ethic passed on by their father and their employees who work hard and contribute ideas to make the company better. They believe that putting extra stitches in the stress points of their active wear and the quick delivery to anywhere in the United States has carved them a niche so they don't worry about competition from foreign companies.