Bob Jacquart receives state Manufacturing Excellence Award

By P.J. GLISSON

news@yourdailyglobe.com

Ironwood — Each year, the Michigan Manufacturers Association presents Manufacturing Excellence Awards to a select number of winners, and one of them this year just happens to be from Gogebic County.

Bob Jacquart, chairman and former CEO of Jacquart Fabric Products and Stormy Kromer, received the 2022 Manufacturing Lifetime Achievement Award on Nov. 10 at the Lansing Center in Lansing.

As noted in the event magazine, the MMA conferred the honor on Jacquart “not only because of his entrepreneurial skills but also for his ability to form bonds near and far, while personifying the passion and drive that embodies the Upper Peninsula’s signature character.”

“It’s very humbling,” said Jacquart in a recent interview in his office within the Ironwood Industrial Park. “I didn’t take this lightly. This is a very big deal, and I’m very proud.”

Jacquart added, “I’m the first Upper Peninsula representative, so I kind of felt like I was representing all of us — my family, my peninsula and my town.”

He said that attending the MMA gala with his wife, Denise, and two daughters was “just wonderful,” and he credits his entire staff for his success.

“Stormy Kromer is just huge and revered in the Lower Peninsula,” he said. “We are extremely revered and loved.”

Jacquart said the award also makes it clear that U.P. residents “can compete with anybody.”

Just around the corner from his office is proof of his achievement in the Stormy Kromer store at 1238 Wall Street. An entire wall of the store is loaded with a wide array of the famous Stormy Kromer hat, which can be adjusted to cover the wearer’s ears in cold weather.

The hats vary in colors, patterns, sizes and materials, with some including fleece or fur linings and some in tyke size with flower appliqués.

As The Globe surveyed the goods, browsing shoppers stood in front of mirrors to try various options.

Adding to the ambiance was a red and black plaid couch and coordinating easy chairs, along with memorabilia that includes old-world snowshoes and a fishing tackle basket.

Additional product lines, which are also available online, include sweatshirts, pet wear, etc.

Meanwhile, employees of both Stormy Kromer and Jacquart Fabric Products worked in other, larger areas to assemble many additional JFP products relating to household, industrial or outdoor use.

Beyond his business acumen, Jacquart was noted by the MMA for his longstanding community service.

For instance, he has served on the Boards of Trustees of three colleges or universities in Michigan and Wisconsin. They included Michigan Technological University in Houghton; Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin; and Gogebic Community College, where he served as board chairman for a decade.

“I just loved being part of the educational community. I still love Gogebic,” claimed Jacquart, who also credited MTU as “amazing.”

His service also has included the Board of Directors of Aspirus, Inc. and the Advisory Board of the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Ninth District.

At this time, Jacquart is on the Board of Directors of the USA Nordic Sport, a nonprofit organization that promotes ski jumping from its base in Park City, Utah. He is also on the board of Copper Peak, the Ironwood ski jump that is now undergoing a renaissance. In addition, he chairs the organizing committee for Copper Peak’s future meets.

Overall, he described community service as “extremely rewarding” and is pleased to refer to his daughters as “chips off the old block”: Gina Thorsen, who now has Jacquart’s previous role as CEO of JFP and Stormy Kromer, is on the Board of Directors of Ironwood’s Emberlight Festival, and K.J. Jacquart, who is the director of purchasing, is an assistant basketball coach at GCC.

As for what inspired his desire to serve his community, Jacquart said that, while he was a young man, he happened to learn about the reputation of his own family.

“The background behind this is I found out my grandfather fed seven families during the Depression,” he explained. “I was thanked by someone I didn’t know. And then I saw (the movie) ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’ and I saw what an impact a person could have on their community.”

Jacquart’s father, Robert R. Jacquart, began Jacquart Fabric Products in 1958, and Bob Jacquart joined the business in 1971.

By 1983, he had bought out the enterprise and, henceforth, grew it from a small family storefront to a force that now ships across the nation and the world.

The operation now features 120 employees and more than 90,000 square feet.

In 2001, Jacquart also bought the rights to manufacture Stormy Kromer hats and grew it from a single product with 18 dealers selling 3,900 units a year to 900 dealers serving a production of 3,900 caps a week.

“I’m really proud that we developed this brand into a national phenomenon,” said Jacquart to The Globe.

Despite having just been recognized for a half century of history in the manufacturing business, Jacquart implied that he’s not done. “I’d like to be part of this area growing,” he said.

“As kids, my sister K.J. and I spent Saturday mornings at the shop helping customers and making change,” stated Thorsen in a press release announcing the MMA award. “We saw how our father treated his workers with respect and kindness. We saw him take strategic risks. We experienced his optimism and his can-do attitude. We didn’t realize it at the time, but even then, he was mentoring us.”

The reverence for family and community is amplified on the back wall of the Stormy Kromer store, which includes numerous, carefully framed photos of folks from past generations who contributed to the company’s legacy and whose strong eyes appear to continue guiding it.

Among them is a wooden sign that boasts the continuing familial pride: “We are caretakers of a legend.”