Lamiglas and G. Loomis put Woodland on the map
Motorists on Interstate 5 usually pass though Woodland, 31 miles north of Portland, without stopping. Few realize this small town’s importance to sports fisherman worldwide.
Two of the three major high-end United States fishing rod manufacturers — Lamiglas and G. Loomis — call Woodland home. The other member of the big three – St. Croix – is located in Wisconsin. While this community on the Clark-Cowlitz County line does not actively promote itself as the sports fishing gear capital of the world, it could credibly lay claim to that title.
In the Beginning was Lamiglas
Lamiglas, the older and more diverse of the two firms, started in Kent back in 1951. Initially, it manufactured fiberglass rod blanks, which were then sold to other companies that would make them into finished fishing rods. Lamiglas’ name is derived from the fact that its blanks were laminated fiberglass.
Over the years, the company grew and moved into progressively larger facilities in the Kent area. Then, in the early 1970s, Lamiglas moved its headquarters from Kent to Woodland. By the end of that decade, all Lamiglas operations were in Woodland.
During the late 1970s, Lamiglas expanded its oeuvre to include graphite rods. Ultimately, the company’s product line also included composite rods. Interestingly, although the company is best known as a fishing rod designer and manufacturer, Lamiglas’ expertise in creating tubular products brings it special contracts from clients including Boeing, the U.S. Army, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the firm that stages the half time at the Orange Bowl.
“We sold them the pole they used for the flag,” said Lamiglas’ national sales manager, John Posey, of the Orange Bowl contract.
The company currently employs 35 people, the majority of which work in production, but Lamiglas’ payroll often increases to 50 employees, depending on the season.
“What sets us apart from a lot of our larger competitors is that we’re a family owned company,” said Posey. “My father, John Posey, is still the president. We have a very tight knit company with loyal employees who’ve been with us for a long time. After 50 years of manufacturing, we’ve got a lot of collective experience in the building on how to put a fishing rod together.”
Skill and experience are essential in the demanding manufacturing environment where the intricate process of creating a fishing rod takes place. Rolls of graphite or fiberglass are cut to exacting standards, rolled on to a steel mandrel and wrapped in cellophane to hold their shape, baked, sanded and polished or painted.
From there, inspectors check each blank for structural soundness. If a blank passes this test, it goes into the assembly process where it receives grips, handles, and all the other features that make a finished fishing rod.
Posey, who was a prominent radio disc jockey during the 1980s and 1990s on Seattle’s KZOK and KXRX before following his father into the family business, believes another reason for Lamiglas’ success is its openness to suggestions from its customers.
“We pride ourselves on really listening to fishermen, professional guides and retailers on the kinds of products they need.”
The result is a wide array of Lamiglas products, including approximately 450 rods for fly, salmon and steelhead, bass, freshwater, surf and saltwater fishing.
The dream of Gary Loomis
Lamiglas’ upstart rival, G. Loomis, is inextricably linked to its founder, Gary Loomis, an avid fisherman who worked at Lamiglas during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
“G. Loomis is the result of a dream Gary Loomis had nearly 30 years ago,” said Bruce Holt, executive director of G. Loomis. “Gary was fishing in the Kalama River, the water was low and clear, but he couldn’t catch the fish with normal steelhead gear. That was when he decided he wanted to make a rod that would allow him to catch those fish.”
Loomis began by taking fly rods, stripping the guides off of them and modifying them to his own specifications. When the results were less than satisfactory, Loomis went to a series of blank manufacturers and tried to interest them in his idea for the perfect fishing rod.
When the manufacturers turned him down, Loomis started his own company to manufacture blanks in 1982. By 1985, the company expanded from simply producing blanks to assembling finished rods.
“Gary’s strategy was to make the best fishing rods for serious fishermen in all aspects of the sport,” said Holt. “The price didn’t matter. Whatever it cost was whatever it cost. We just built those rods the best way we knew.”
The formula was a winning one. The company grew by leaps and bounds and developed a reputation for technically innovative products with high levels of performance. Among its offerings were rods made of GLX — a proprietary form of graphite developed exclusively for G. Loomis and found nowhere else.
“Our rods became a status symbol among anglers,” said Carol Zaharka, spokesperson for G. Loomis.
By the 1990s, consumer demand for G. Loomis products grew to the point where the company was forced to move to new, larger facilities.
Then, in 1996, Shimano American Corporation — an internationally known manufacturer of fishing, cycling and snowboarding products — purchased the small company started 14 years earlier by Gary Loomis.
“What Shimano’s purchase did for us was that it gave us freedom from concerns about cash flow. Shimano had lots of resources and were willing to help us grow.” G. Loomis is still owned by Shimano. Gary Loomis, himself, stayed on after the purchase until 2008, when he finally left the company that bears his name. He remains active, devoting much of his time to salmon restoration efforts and as an advocate for the Northwest’s sport fishermen.
Although he is no longer with the company, G. Loomis, with 150 employees — many of them accomplished fishermen themselves — retains much of its founder’s spirit. “We’re not a company that makes fishing rods,” said Holt. “We’re a company that fishes and makes rods.”
Life After Recession
The economic downturn has not been easy for firms like Lamiglas and G. Loomis, which specialize in high end products.
“Retail is very slow, and $200 fishing rods are not on the top of the list for most families right now,” said Posey. “Nevertheless, historically speaking, during times of recession, people do go out and fish,” Posey said. “Applications for hunting and fishing licenses increase. People may be going out and getting dinner, or they may just need a place to release a little stress.”
“The downturn didn’t affect us until October 2008,” said Holt. “Our sales dropped after that, but we still managed a 200 percent sales increase for fiscal 2008. We feel pretty good about that.”
While the majority of both companies’ sales are in the United States, Lamiglas and G. Loomis also have international business that was growing up to the beginning of the recession. When the downturn ends, both companies hope to expand their international sales while growing on their home turf of the United States.
“We’re still going to make the same rods that everyone knows while also coming up with new designs,” said Holt. “We’re always looking for new materials. We’re always looking for new ways to build a rod lighter and stronger. When this recession is over, we’re going to be a stronger company.”
