Springfield Marine rises from ashes of 1999 inferno

When fire destroyed Spring-field Marine Company Inc. in November 1999, many people predicted the company would never reopen. However, the company's owners Garnett and Caroline Carnahan weren't so quick to throw in the towel.

When the fire occurred, the Carnahans were in Shanghai, China, overseeing operations at The Shanghai Carnahan Group, which comprises three manufacturing facilities. After the initial shock, they realized both their customers and employees were depending on them to keep Springfield Marine going.

The Carnahans knew if they wanted to save their company, they would have to act quickly. They ramped up operations at the three manufacturing facilities in China, and those plants began producing finished products and the components that needed to be assembled by Springfield Marine.

During the next six months, the plants in China air-shipped more than 100,000 pounds of merchandise to Nixa one to two times per week. In addition, they shipped a 20-foot container out to the United States each week via commercial vessel. Once the merchandise arrived in the United States, it would go to one of four temporary facilities that were set up in the Nixa area. Workers from Springfield Marine assembled the components into finished products for distribution to the company's customers.

|quot|The only thing that kept us alive was the fact that we had purchased business-interruption insurance,|quot| said Garnett Carna-han. |quot|It covered our air freight bills and other shipping costs.|quot|

During this critical period, the Carnahans continued to supervise operations in China while Springfield Marine Company co-owner and President Ron Mawhiney and Vice President Jeff Gilmore did whatever it took stateside to keep the business going.

They gathered together all the Springfield Marine staff members on the Friday after Thanks-giving at the site of the still-smoldering building and as-sured them that the decision had been made to rebuild the plant and that employees would not miss a paycheck. By the following week, they had three of the four temporary facilities leased.

Carnahan and Mawhiney also had another facility with some available space and also had a lot of manufacturing equipment that was not running at capacity. They immediately went into that facility and were manufacturing just three weeks after the fire.

On May 17, 2001, Springfield Marine held a grand opening for its new 100,000-square-foot plant and 18,000-square-foot engineering and office complex, which is located on the site of the original facility in Nixa.

Springfield Marine Co. is one of several businesses founded by Garnett Carnahan. The eldest of five children, Carnahan began working when he was 15 so he could help his family make ends meet during the Great Depression.

In 1952, when he was only 22, he started Springfield Alum-inum Company and Carnahan White Fence Company. He sold the fence company to his partner in 1962, keeping Springfield Aluminum for himself.

Carnahan used knowledge gleaned while working as a sand molder in an iron foundry in Kansas City to bring in business by producing aluminum castings for the automotive, health and marine industries. Many of the castings manufactured at Springfield Aluminum came from molds invented and developed by Carnahan. By 1969, the demand for Carna-han's custom molds had in-creased to the point that he decided to form a separate company called Diversified Plastics Corp., an expandable polystyrene packaging company.

In the early 1970s, Carnahan decided to develop his own product line in the marine field and formed a new division within Springfield Aluminum called Springfield Marine. The company manufactures and distributes marine products for a wide variety of boat builders as well as many after-market businesses such as Bass Pro Shops.

Over the years, Springfield Marine's product line has expanded, and the company now produces a wide variety of pedestals and boat seats. Carnahan designs a majority of the parts the company manufactures, and he owns 10 patents on various products.

Springfield Marine is now one of the biggest boat pedestal manufacturers in the United States, according to Carnahan, and the company's accrued sales exceed $12 million.

In recent years, Springfield Marine has begun exporting its products overseas, and international sales now account for an increasing portion of the company's business. Carnahan's wife, Caroline, handles much of the company's international business dealings.

Prior to her marriage in 1988, Caroline Carnahan was a successful businesswoman in Taiwan, and she's continued to use her contacts in the Asian business world to help grow business at Springfield Marine. Since 1990, she also has played an instrumental role in the setting up and running of the three manufacturing plants in China, which now produce mostly finished products, as well as some of the components that are assembled into boating products by workers at Springfield Marine.

In the future, the Carnahans plan to expand their business by offering new and innovative products that can be used by both boaters and RV owners. Currently, the two are in talks with a Japanese company that has developed an environmentally friendly portable toilet that never has to be cleaned and doesn't generate any offensive odors.

The Carnahans also are in talks with a company that has developed an economical system for recycling shower water.

|quot|This company is definitely on the upswing,|quot| Gilmore said. |quot|Not many business owners would have the guts to do what the Carnahans did, but Springfield Marine has come back stronger than ever.|quot|

In 2002, the Carnahans will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of their business.