America's only ironing board manufacturer reopens southern Indiana plant

SEYMOUR, Ind. (WDRB) -- The United States' only manufacturer of ironing boards reopened its plant earlier this month in Seymour.

Seymour Home Products, under various names, has spent decades making thousands of ironing boards per day and and exporting them internationally. Back in March, the owner, Home Products International, said it would close the plant. Production stopped May 27, and about 130 workers initially lost their jobs.

Thomas Day, chief operation officer for Seymour Home Products, said the COVID-19 pandemic and rising steel costs made the future of the company uncertain.

"We felt like, through no fault of our own, the company had difficulties and was not able to continue," Day said. "But with new ownership, we have a new lease on life and we are looking forward to it."

Day said the night before the Seymour property was put up for auction, HDS Trading began final discussions of purchasing the then-defunct business. A few days later, it was finalized. The company — albeit making a wider variety of products — started in 1942, and Seymour Home Products now moves forward into a new era.

Jan Engel, who would have marked 41 years at the company this past August, said everyone has a positive attitude and excitement about being back, and she's looking forward to the potential of this new ownership.

"They've already talked about bringing other products in here, not just ironing boards," she said. "They're looking to be aggressive. It's going to be a growth opportunity for the company, which, in turn, means a growth opportunity for this area."

At one point, Day said Seymour Home Products employed more than 400 people. He said they called every former employee they could to ask them back, but, for now, they have a crew of about 50 with hopes to more than double that in its next phase.

"What we did have was a knowledgeable, a well-trained and a dedicated workforce that allowed us to be able to start back up in as little as 30 days," Day said.

With about 5,000 ironing boards being made each day, it's a second chance at producing Seymour's signature product.

"It's good to see our people smiling, laughing," he said. "That first day of work, there were cars in the parking lot an hour before work started. They were anxious to get back."

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