Wood County Commission celebrates Kreinik award
Company named SBA Exporter of the Year for state, region
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PARKERSBURG -- The Wood County Commission this week recognized the owner of a Parkersburg business named the Small Business Administration's Exporter of the Year for West Virginia and the surrounding region.
"We recently sent out a shipment to the Ukraine and Thailand," Kreinik Manufacturing Co. Inc. owner and President Doug Kreinik said during Thursday's commission meeting. "We sell all over Europe, Asia. I actually have a Russian distributor, but I have not been servicing him for over a year because of (the war in) Ukraine."
The company manufactures specialty thread products used in everything from needlework and other crafts to fly fishing lures and elaborate costumes for stage and screen.
"We just sent a big order out to Warner Bros. in England," said Kreinik, adding he didn't know for what project it was intended but speculating it could be for the "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon." Metallic threads made by the company were previously used to accent costumes on the original series.
The Kreinik factory on Gihon Road in south Parkersburg employs 24 people, with braiding machines operating from midnight to 4:30 a.m.
"But we're still three months behind," Kreinik said, citing demand for their products.
In a release announcing the awards for the state and the Mid-Atlantic region, SBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator John Fleming called the business "a perfect example of the American Dream made reality."
"Drive, quick thinking and nimbleness allowed Doug and his employees to not only prosper during the pandemic but provide a lifesaving product for frontline workers around the world," he said, pointing to the company modifying its machines to produce elastic for masks. "Kreinik Manufacturing is proof exporting can make the difference between getting by and going far."
Kreinik's parents opened the business in 1973, with Doug joining in 1983, purchasing the business with his brother in 1988 and taking full ownership in 2008.
Kreinik has utilized a variety of SBA products and services, the release said, most recently a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan and Paycheck Protection Program loan.
"I met Doug in 2016 when he was named the SBA WV Small Business Week District Family-Owned Small Business of the Year," SBA District Director Karen Friel said in the release. "Since that time, I have seen him utilize multiple (SBA) programs and services, like the Emerging Leaders and State Trade Expansion Programs, to sustain and grow his business, even during the pandemic."
Kreinik will accept the award May 3 at the SBA's West Virginia awards luncheon, the release said.
Wood County Commissioner Bob Tebay invited Kreinik to Thursday's commission meeting to discuss the award because "I think it's important that the people know what the businesses do in their area."
"I also give you kudos for your involvement in the community," Commissioner Jimmy Colombo said to Kreinik.
In other business, Commission President Blair Couch said the commissioners will meet on Monday in the Judge Black Annex with representatives of West Virginia American Water to discuss the company's recent proposal to buy local public service districts.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.