Zeeland manufacturer hires 3, seeks 8 more

By: Deborah Johnson Wood

Zeeland’s DSA International plans to add eight employees in the next six months, bringing its workforce to 23. The company, founded just four years ago, provides worldwide sources for small and medium furniture manufacturers and distributors, and has doubled its sales volume every year since its founding.

“We've found that small to medium companies in the Midwest need people who can take a design from a napkin sketch through to production,” says President Mark Bouwman, a co-owner with Brad DeBruyne. “We need to make more room for engineering and design staff. We're doing assembly here so we need a consolidation point to bring the components together.”

The company recently moved into an 80,000-square-foot facility at 680 Case Karsten Drive—an increase of 40 percent over its last facility. A new endeavor—designing motor coach and RV furniture—launches the company into a new market. Bouwman’s goal is to triple the company’s growth by the end of the year.

“The big thing for us,” Bouwman says, “is taking our capabilities to the next level with less emphasis on where the product is made and more on the design.”

Since January, DSA has hired three employees. Future new hires will fill office, assembly, and warehouse positions.

With two-person offices in Vietnam, Thailand, and China, DSA still sources about 25 percent of its goods from West Michigan manufacturers.

Source: Mark Bouwman, DSA International

Deborah Johnson Wood is development news editor for Rapid Growth. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Enjoy this story? Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.