Among the many sewing machines options for your shop, how do you choose? The panelists at the EXPO presentation “Selecting a Sewing Machine for Your Application,” agree that nearly any project can at least be partially fabricated using a single-needle walking foot machine. “But for wide material for tents, awnings, covers, sails and the like,” [...]

Whether you’re a fabricator for the marine, automobile, commercial or residential markets, Steven Wayne, owner of Southern Stitch Canvas and Upholstery LLC in Gulfport, Mississippi, says many of the same rules apply. According to Wayne, business success comes down to four basic things: skills mastery, excellent communication, judicious customization and customer education. Wayne’s shop works [...]

Larry Oxenham, senior advisor with the American Society for Asset Protection, says small business owners should ask themselves one question: If something were to happen to me today, what would happen to my company? “Every small business will pass on eventually,” says Oxenham, “either voluntarily or involuntarily.” He says that most successful businesses are built [...]

Mary Lynn Langraf, left, talks to an attendee of IFAI Expo 2017.] Business owners who want to pursue government contracts shouldn’t be discouraged, says Mary Linn Langraf, senior international trade specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce/OTEXA. Langraf presented a detailed discussion Sept. 26 at IFAI Expo 2017, emphasizing that the textile industry [...]

“Shade Sails 2.0” was one of the opening presentations Sept. 26 at IFAI Expo 2017. The presentation featured Tim Koehler, Lawrence Fabric and Metal Structures Inc., and Tim Akes, MPanel Software Solutions, who discussed two projects that could handle wind and snow loads. The first project at Southwest Illinois Community College was an outside study [...]