DOWAGIAC — For much of the city’s first century, the Round Oak Stove Company was the heart of Dowagiac’s economic prosperity.

Opening its doors in 1871, the manufacturer was responsible for not just employing countless locals throughout its nearly 80-year history, but for becoming one of the pillars of Dowagiac’s culture. The names “Round Oak” and “Beckwith” (Philo D. Beckwith was the company’s founder) are still present throughout the city today.

Even in the wake of its closing in 1946, industry continued to serve as an integral part of the city’s fabric. However, one name has risen to become the one of Dowagiac’s preeminent manufacturers, with a legacy that continues to grow to this day: Lyon’s Industries.

Located on the outskirts of town on M-62, the plastics manufacturer is responsible for creating some of the most important products that nearly every American uses at least once a day: showers, bathtubs, whirlpools and sinks. Fiberglass bath and kitchenware sporting the Lyons logo line the shelves in hardware stores such as Lowes and Menards across the country.

Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that in its nearly 50 years of existence, only three men have presided over the company, all bearing the name Lyons.

Like many American success stories, the origins of the company are found within the basement of a home sitting on what was called Pleasant Lane in 1966. It was that year that Dale Lyons and his two-person team (consisting of his wife, Doris, and son, Larry) entered into the plastic molding business, creating small plumbing ducts that would eventually become a standard in the mobile home business.

“They were these injection molded plastic pieces, that were about 3 inches tall, 2 inches in diameter,” said Lance Lyons, Dale’s grandson and current president of the company. “They replaced the vent pipes that were traditionally installed on mobile homes. It resulted in huge savings for manufacturers.”

A few years later, Dale’s other son, Don, took over leadership of the fledging company, moving out of his father’s basement to a space downtown, where Beeson Street Bar and Grill sits today. The company ran into stiff competition during the late ‘70s, though, as Dale’s former business partner had failed to secure a patent for their popular product. When the option between evolution or extinction came before the young business owner, Don chose the former.

“At this time, he had a product that was worth about 49 cents,” Lance said. “He asked himself ‘what can I make that I can sell for $49?’”

The answer came in the form of vacuum-formed bathtubs and shower stalls. In 1977, Don moved production into a seven-acre property formerly occupied by a fiberglass boat factory on M-62.

More than 30 years, four expansions and millions of shipped plastic tubs later, Lyons remains a stalwart in Michiana manufacturing. Since taking over as president in 2006, Lance (Don’s son) has kept the ball rolling. Coming off several years of strong sales, the company completed its latest expansion of the shipping dock last spring.

The company also made some additions to its workforce last year, bringing the company up to 150 employees. Lyons continues to modernize the manufacturing process as well, installing a computerized robotic arm to assist with the application of fiberglass for the products.

With employees working two 10-hour shifts five days a week, the factory produces an average of 2,000 products a day. The process of taking a single sheet of plastic, molding it into shape, applying and smoothing the fiberglass coating and finally packing it for shipment takes around an hour, Lyons said.

“We’re very busy now [winter] into April,” he said. “Business picks up in the fall as well, before dropping off until it picks back up in January again.”

In an era of decline for many manufacturers in the Dowagiac area, Lyons Industries continues to succeed. Its president attributing to the lessons his father has learned over the past 40 years of business.

“We can react very quickly when the economy changes,” Lance said. “We can downsize and upsize as necessary. That ability to react keeps us surviving and growing.”

With demand from established clients continuing to increase and new ones being added on a constant basis, Lyons is looking forward to the road ahead.

“The future is very bright for us, with the changes we’ve made, our capacity to take on more business, and our ability to react quickly to whatever happens next,” he said.