TWO BROKEN STEPS
When Norm Byrne left Electrical Assemblies in 1971 to start making boat harnesses in his basement, it wasn’t because he knew he had a sure thing. Hardly. This leap of faith was fueled by Norm’s drive to create his own business. Of course, he could have called it quits after his partner ran off with all their seed money. Instead, he got creative, betting the farm with high interest lenders because the banks weren’t approving loans to start ups. The business became a true family affair when the big Artros wire cutter came down the stairs to the basement of their house – and took out the last two steps! Their first factory was a 12’ x 12’ room and sales for that first year totaled a whopping $19,000. Norm was also working full time as plant manager for Grand Rapids Controls, with only evenings and weekends to assemble his own parts. Rosemary cut wires, kept the books, and made most of their deliveries too – all while still working three days a week. Norm didn’t take any salary from the start up for the first five years. He and Rosemary continued to grow the business and the house was filled with Byrne everywhere you looked – even the family kitchen doublied as a test lab.
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