CEO Ken Rakusin is guiding the award winning California manufacturer to growth through acquisitions and the capability to make any and all brushes.

Producing more than 17,000 different brushes for every industry imaginable, Gordon Brush is the leading brush manufacturer in the nation. Its catalog typically grows by 15 to 20 styles every single week.

"If a brush exists, we have it," says Rakusin. "If it doesn't, we'll make it. What most people don't realize is that almost every single type of industry needs brushes for one reason or another. For us, there are two general types of brush categories. One is the stock or standard type of brush and the other 50 percent are custom brushes." Custom clients run the gamut from cookie bakeries looking to clean conveyor lines to NASA for telescope lens upkeep.

The company, established in 1951 by founder Don Gordon, now has a dozen brands, of which two date back to the 19th century and one has been around since 1855. Through acquisitions over the decades, Gordon Brush has grown into numerous markets, expanding its reach into such industries as aerospace, medical, military, pharmaceutical, and electronics.

Ken Rakusin with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Congresswoman Grace Napolitano. Photos Ashley Horne.

"We generally make two acquisitions a year," says Rakusin. "We acquire companies whose ownership is ready to retire and that fits well with our product line. Over time, this has expanded the depth and breadth of our product line and has helped us acquire new customers."

Within the company's 183,000-square-foot facility, manufacturing and assembly capabilities allow for fast turnaround times. "We can offer same-day shipping on over 3,500 standard types of brushes and can sometimes deliver specialty and custom brushes in one business day or less," says Rakusin. "Our facility combines both modern automated and semi-automated equipment that can help us produce 50,000 to 100,000 pieces a day. Yet, there are some brushes which need to be done by hand and requires an artisan aspect to some of our specialty products. Brush manufacturing is an art, so we often train employees with the skills needed to operate machinery as well as learning the skills to create products that need to be made by hand."

Read the complete article at https://companyweek.com/company-profile/gordon-brush