Worcester Firm Goes Backstage | Tired of cheap travel cases, stage production company makes its own
I’ve been to a lot of manufacturing companies in Central Massachusetts and many of them have been in business for a very long time. I figure one of these days, I’ll find a place that’s been in business since the 18th Century.
I was happy, though, that for this particular column, I found a manufacturer that got its start less than 10 years ago. And Image Production Services of Worcester has all the vitality and adaptability you’d expect from such a young company.
Image is actually two businesses. I’ll focus on their manufacturing business and mention the other half in just a few lines.
Rock On
What Image Production makes are the heavy-duty transport cases you see bands using at rock concerts to tote their considerable amount of gear. At corporate events, the sound systems, lights and other stage equipment are also transported in the same type of cases.
You may have seen some plastic ones. Those aren’t made by Image. Image custom makes wood and aluminum cases to customer specifications. It does have a few on hand and anyone can walk in off the street and buy one, but that’s not really Image’s business.
The company got its start when CEO Darren Lussier realized the cases he was buying for Image’s production company were not up to snuff, said Dave Balkus, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing. Lussier was producing corporate events, setting up stages and lights for bands and other similar stuff and he had to buy cases.
“A lot of the time, the cases weren’t really exactly what he wanted. They were cheap, or they didn’t exactly fit,” Balakus said.
So, Lussier did what many people in his situation would have at least thought to do: He started making his own. He got some good advice from an employee and from his parents, who ran a sign company.
The fabricated wood and aluminum cases Lussier made were soon ready for prime time and he started selling them to his friends in the sound and lights business. Now, the company’s two businesses — the case manufacturing and the production company — employ about 14 people.
Image began its life in rented space on Webster Street. Two or three years ago, the company was ready to grow and bought a two-building parcel at its current location at 1051 Southbridge St. The old buildings there had to be gutted and remodeled, but one now houses manufacturing operations while the other houses the company’s offices.
Balakus said the poor economy has affected the company right along with everyone else. “You may have a case that’s junk and if the economy’s bad, you’re going to get out the duct tape,” he said.
So, Image has ventured into manufacturing other, related fabricated steel products like dollies and carts. The company has also been successful in going after government contracts and is making 18 huge cases for the military. Balakus said that when a military plane breaks down, one of the giant Image cases can be filled with the parts necessary to fix it and then shipped to the site of the breakdown.
Got news for our Industrial Strength column? E-mail WBJ Managing Editor Matthew L. Brown at mbrown@wbjournal.com.
Watch as Darren Lussier, owner of Image Production Services in Worcester, explains how he began manufacturing road cases.
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