Pro-Tuff: Werner Works, Inc. "Professional Gear Made Tuff": Interview with Made To Measure Magazine

In 1976, 35-year-old Ken Werner (1998’s newly elected president of NAUMD) wasn’t sure his health would see him to the next year: He figured he’d better pow-wow with wife, Carolyn, and decide how she and their 3 teen-aged children would survive. In the quiet town of Roseburg, Oregon, this lumber mill employee and restaurant owner’s daughter started a little side business in their garage, making backpacks for the neighborhood kids: “Pack Tracks.”

In a valley nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Rockies, during the blossoming of wandering “flower children” and the re-emergence of outdoor sports, no manufacturing choice could have been wiser.  Carolyn, clearly the matriarch of business and family, recalls Ken bending tubing and cutting goods, with help from sons Kerry and K.C.; she and daughter Kristi designed and sewed the packs.  Popularity grew: The fellows at the mills, then the hippies passing through, wanted them.   Soon, it was craft fairs on Saturday’s. 

After 2 years of moonlighting, 40 year old Carolyn quit her bookkeeping job and went to work full-time making camping gear.  The 2 boys were finishing high school and off to college; only Kristi was at home to help her folks.  In 1978, the Werners rented a small storefront with a single machine in the back room.  First, they sold their backpacks, then bags for camping gear as cross-country skiers found them out.

When the ‘80’s recession took hold and big-box stores began to edge out “mom n’ pop’s,” Ken looked around for ways to increase his line and keep the little business bustling.  The family expanded into saddlebags and raincoats for the nearby farmers, but out of high-grade nylon (Cardura), instead of the heavier, more perishable traditional fabrics. 

 Eventually, they began to work with police and fire departments.  Ken, who Carolyn acknowledges as an absolute genius, had gone to a trade show in Chicago and made the connection between the newer nylons and the older, heavy rubberized coats which these men had been wearing.  Ken affirmed, “You never know when an idea is gonna hit you.  You always have to be lookin’ around.”  He contracted the San Francisco Police Department and they were on their way.  In 1983, moving from one building to another, expanding to 6 machines and then 15, Pro-Tuff was established.

The Werners continued to make and sell their backpack and gear bags lines; they have never been without a storefront to represent their products.  But by 1986, their law enforcement business had grown so tremendously that the camping bags had evolved into Emergency Medical Tech bags, and what was once a retail camping-gear business became a booming corporation in the uniform industry, producing raincoats, 13-pocket utility pants and jumpsuits.

“We didn’t realize how labor-intensive these things were,” reflects Carolyn.  “We just knew it was what our customers needed.  We changed the pocket configuration, and became known as ‘the pocket people.’”

From 1989-1995, Pro-Tuff continued to grow under Ken’s creative insights and Carolyn’s watchful business eye.  Kerri had gone on to engineering; K.C. had moved to Eugene, opened his own advertising business, and was handling the Pro-Tuff account.  At 29, he and wife Beth made the decision to return to Roseburg, devoting themselves solely to the family business.  Ken made it clear that Pro-Tuff was a business in itself.

Kristi, the silent and perhaps most intriguing partner in the Werner family, is a superb designer and craftswoman.  She is also the purchasing agent, manages an excellent OCEA record, is committed to the welfare of her fellow beings.  At 30, she decided making uniform apparel wasn’t enough (in addition to her husband and 3 children) so she initiated the now state-sponsored program “U-Can” where committed town businesses rotate monthly responsibilities of food drives for the disadvantaged.  Proudly, Carolyn notes that philanthropy is no stranger at Werner Works.  “People need to know who we are and who they work for.  We feel it’s important to be friends to the city.  They, in turn, are friends and contribute to our progress and success as a company.”

In the summer of 1995, Ken got a bee in his bonnet.  Roseburg had literally run out of people to employ.  The factory was huge, and in a rural northwest Oregon town (pop.19,000), there weren’t that many folks who had the necessary skills to sew.  He decided he and Carolyn would double their facilities and move the other half to Kentucky where the labor-pool was unlimited.  “You can’t hold back,” Carolyn insists.  “You constantly have to expand.”

K.C., now in charge of the company’s public relations and the one with “a far-out creative mind,” produced a consumer-oriented catalogue, even though the company works through its distributors.  Changing its corporate marketing strategies, Pro-Tuff now goes directly to the end-user, finds out what is needed, then returns the account to the local distributor.  K.C. feels, “By getting consumer input before we make the garment, we can assure 100% satisfaction and usability.”

“Whenever we have a customer who requires a custom fabric, we ask the mills to find it or invent it,” Carolyn interjects.  One such Pro-Tuff fabric is Comfort Twill—Dockers’-feel goods with strength of heavy-duty fibers.

 Ken is no-nonsense and sticks to business, whereas Carolyn is more introspective and reflective.   While he and K.C. tend to focus on the trends and products which the business produces, Carolyn is open about discussing the dynamics and challenges of running a family-owned business.  She is candid about the need for division of responsibilities, how family-owned businesses easily can result in family–destroyed businesses.  “It took a good 10 years to figure out what each of us does.  Now, K.C. and Kristi handle the Roseburg plant while Ken and I travel to Kentucky several times a year.  In addition, Kristi and I are responsible for anything inside the plants; Ken and K.C. are the outside people—they are responsible for everyone and everything on the other side of the front door.  It has to be divided up, or we’d drive each other crazy.”

Nearing 60, Carolyn is content with the process of aging.  Always a workaholic, she intends to continue until her last grandchild is grown.  She dotes on her English country farmhouse, surrounded by gardens and filled with country French antiques.  Her future includes mentoring others in family-owned businesses—guiding, advising, supporting.  “Family will always be more important than business.  If you don’t look after your family, who will?” she smiles.  “But the truth is, you have to work to make sure the family eats!  When the 2 are inter-twined, it takes time and effort to keep them separate.”

K.C. agrees.  “Sometimes, at Thanksgiving, one of the kids will stand up and yell at us to stop talking about business so we can talk about ‘fun stuff.’”

Ken reiterates, “It’s great when the grandkids run into my office and play with the things on my desk, but it’s difficult when the younger folks come up with new ideas which mustn’t be stomped on.”

Now a huge cross-continent concern, Pro-Tuff is a leader in its own area and in the uniform industry.  Its innovations, keenly developed and marketed by Ken and K.C, with scrupulous plant and management implementations from Carolyn and Kristi, allow each member of the family to project Werner Works, Inc.’s growth and continuation for many years to come.

In 1976, 35-year-old Ken Werner (1998’s newly elected president of NAUMD) wasn’t sure his health would see him to the next year: He figured he’d better pow-wow with wife, Carolyn, and decide how she and their 3 teen-aged children would survive.  In the quiet town of Roseburg, Oregon, this lumber mill employee and restaurant owner’s daughter started a little side business in their garage, making backpacks for the neighborhood kids: “Pack Tracks.”

In a valley nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Rockies, during the blossoming of wandering “flower children” and the re-emergence of outdoor sports, no manufacturing choice could have been wiser.  Carolyn, clearly the matriarch of business and family, recalls Ken bending tubing and cutting goods, with help from sons Kerry and K.C.; she and daughter Kristi designed and sewed the packs.  Popularity grew: The fellows at the mills, then the hippies passing through, wanted them.   Soon, it was craft fairs on Saturdays. 

After 2 years of moonlighting, 40 year old Carolyn quit her bookkeeping job and went to work full-time making camping gear.  The 2 boys were finishing high school and off to college; only Kristi was at home to help her folks.  In 1978, the Werners rented a small storefront with a single machine in the back room.  First, they sold their backpacks, then bags for camping gear as cross-country skiers found them out.

When the ‘80’s recession took hold and big-box stores began to edge out “mom n’ pop’s,” Ken looked around for ways to increase his line and keep the little business bustling.  The family expanded into saddlebags and raincoats for the nearby farmers, but out of high-grade nylon (Cardura), instead of the heavier, more perishable traditional fabrics. 

 Eventually, they began to work with police and fire departments.  Ken, who Carolyn acknowledges as an absolute genius, had gone to a trade show in Chicago and made the connection between the newer nylons and the older, heavy rubberized coats which these men had been wearing.  Ken affirmed, “You never know when an idea is gonna hit you.  You always have to be lookin’ around.”  He contracted the San Francisco Police Department and they were on their way.  In 1983, moving from one building to another, expanding to 6 machines and then 15, Pro-Tuff was established.

The Werner’s continued to make and sell their backpack and gear bags lines; they have never been without a storefront to represent their products.  But by 1986, their law enforcement business had grown so tremendously that the camping bags had evolved into Emergency Medical Tech bags, and what was once a retail camping-gear business became a booming corporation in the uniform industry, producing raincoats, 13-pocket utility pants and jumpsuits.

“We didn’t realize how labor-intensive these things were,” reflects Carolyn.  “We just knew it was what our customers needed.  We changed the pocket configuration, and became known as ‘the pocket people.’”

From 1989-1995, Pro-Tuff continued to grow under Ken’s creative insights and Carolyn’s watchful business eye.  Kerri had gone on to engineering; K.C. had moved to Eugene, opened his own advertising business, and was handling the Pro-Tuff account.  At 29, he and wife Beth made the decision to return to Roseburg, devoting themselves solely to the family business.  Ken made it clear that Pro-Tuff was a business in itself.

Kristi, the silent and perhaps most intriguing partner in the Werner family, is a superb designer and craftswoman.  She is also the purchasing agent, manages an excellent OCEA record, is committed to the welfare of her fellow beings.  At 30, she decided making uniform apparel wasn’t enough (in addition to her husband and 3 children) so she initiated the now state-sponsored program “U-Can” where committed town businesses rotate monthly responsibilities of food drives for the disadvantaged.  Proudly, Carolyn notes that philanthropy is no stranger at Werner Works.  “People need to know who we are and who they work for.  We feel it’s important to be friends to the city.  They, in turn, are friends and contribute to our progress and success as a company.”

In the summer of 1995, Ken got a bee in his bonnet.  Roseburg had literally run out of people to employ.  The factory was huge, and in a rural northwest Oregon town (pop.19,000), there weren’t that many folks who had the necessary skills to sew.  He decided he and Carolyn would double their facilities and move the other half to Kentucky where the labor-pool was unlimited.  “You can’t hold back,” Carolyn insists.  “You constantly have to expand.”

K.C., now in charge of the company’s public relations and the one with “a far-out creative mind,” produced a consumer-oriented catalogue, even though the company works through its distributors.  Changing its corporate marketing strategies, Pro-Tuff now goes directly to the end-user, finds out what is needed, then returns the account to the local distributor.  K.C. feels, “By getting consumer input before we make the garment, we can assure 100% satisfaction and usability.”

“Whenever we have a customer who requires a custom fabric, we ask the mills to find it or invent it,” Carolyn interjects.  One such Pro-Tuff fabric is Comfort Twill—Dockers’-feel goods with strength of heavy-duty fibers.

 Ken is no-nonsense and sticks to business, whereas Carolyn is more introspective and reflective.   While he and K.C. tend to focus on the trends and products which the business produces, Carolyn is open about discussing the dynamics and challenges of running a family-owned business.  She is candid about the need for division of responsibilities, how family-owned businesses easily can result in family–destroyed businesses.  “It took a good 10 years to figure out what each of us does.  Now, K.C. and Kristi handle the Roseburg plant while Ken and I travel to Kentucky several times a year.  In addition, Kristi and I are responsible for anything inside the plants; Ken and K.C. are the outside people—they are responsible for everyone and everything on the other side of the front door.  It has to be divided up, or we’d drive each other crazy.”

Nearing 60, Carolyn is content with the process of aging.  Always a workaholic, she intends to continue until her last grandchild is grown.  She dotes on her English country farmhouse, surrounded by gardens and filled with country French antiques.  Her future includes mentoring others in family-owned businesses—guiding, advising, supporting.  “Family will always be more important than business.  If you don’t look after your family, who will?” she smiles.  “But the truth is, you have to work to make sure the family eats!  When the 2 are inter-twined, it takes time and effort to keep them separate.”

K.C. agrees.  “Sometimes, at Thanksgiving, one of the kids will stand up and yell at us to stop talking about business so we can talk about ‘fun stuff.’”

Ken reiterates, “It’s great when the grandkids run into my office and play with the things on my desk, but it’s difficult when the younger folks come up with new ideas which mustn’t be stomped on.”

Now a huge cross-continent concern, Pro-Tuff is a leader in its own area and in the uniform industry.  Its innovations, keenly developed and marketed by Ken and K.C, with scrupulous plant and management implementations from Carolyn and Kristi, allow each member of the family to project Werner Works, Inc.’s growth and continuation for many years to come.