By Janice Kleinschmidt

There are beds in Canvas Designers’ Riviera Beach, Fla., showroom, but they’re not for dreaming (though Mike Erickson won’t deny they provide a place to crash after a long day). Instead, they are intended to highlight the shop’s offering of custom springs and foam mattresses for the boating industry.

The company also sells custom 3-D toolbars and CAD equipment packages.

Companies making digitizing equipment “are not designing to our particular market,” says Erickson.

“Over 15 years, we were driving technology and having to create fixes to use [equipment on the market]. … We have created some of the technology, and what better way to improve our industry and drive technology than to sell it into our industry?”

Janice Kleinschmidt is a freelance writer from San Diego, Calif.