FAIRFIELD, IA - Harper Brush Works, a 70-employee 112-year-old wood handled brush and broom manufacturer now operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, has retained Equity Partners CRB to find a buyer.
Harper Brush Works was forced into bankruptcy after Home Depot dropped its line of wood brushes and brooms. Made with natural and synthetic bristles, the brushes, brooms, wood replacement handles and other cleaning products generated $23 million in sales last year.
Harper Brush Works promotes its lines of sustainably manufactured brushes and brooms, which use finger-jointed woodblocks assmbled from manufacturing scrap, as well as bamboo. Broom and mop handles are made from reclaimed barn wood.
Harper Brush Works consolidated its Greenville, NC operation into the Fairfield plants with $300,000 in financial support from the local development board announced in March 2012. More than 20 jobs were added in Fairfield during the transition.
Equity Partners CRB has managed wood industry sales for cabinetry firms Longview Manufacturing, Loughman Cabinet Co., Belwood Manufacturing Co., and for furniture maker A. Brandt, among other transactions.
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