Cancer Saved Our Small Business From the Death Tax

You read the headline right. In 2010, the gradual decline of the so-called death tax reached a full repeal for that year and that year only. That year just so happened to be the year my grandfather, the patriarch of our family’s small manufacturing business, lost his long and painful battle with cancer. Had we been so fortunate to have him for another year, we would have lost everything he worked so hard to build.
My father was the president of the company at the time, a firm specializing in creating composite equipment. You’ve probably never heard of the composites industry, let alone our company, but I guarantee you’ve used products our machines made. You probably took a shower in a tub made with our equipment today. There are countless applications of composites, from bathtubs, boats, oil and gas, infrastructure, and defense.

We supplied equipment to all of these sectors and more, supporting countless jobs and creating a multitude of products most people take for granted. My family took pride in the ability to design and manufacture all of our products for customers around the world right here in the United States, with facilities in Florida, Tennessee, Indiana, and Washington state, employing hundreds of people.