Business profile: Shur-Company

RAVENNA, Ohio — Tarps. You probably don’t think about them, or how they work or last, until you need a specific one for a specific job.

But the folks at the Shur-Company think about tarps all the time — it’s what they do, and they do it well.

The house that shoes built. Edward Shorma started the company in 1953 as a shoe repair business in the small Midwestern town of Wahpeton, N.D.

Shoe repair spawned tarp repair, then to sewing new tarps as well as the repair and replacement of swather canvases as the company began to grow.

Innovative. The Shur-Lok Roll Tarp was developed in 1980 and since then, many more tarp systems and products have progressed using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and technology.

Today, Shur-Co. manufactures more than 25 tarping systems for the agricultural and construction markets. Products include the Shur-Lok Roll Tarp, 3500 Series Electric, the ProTrap Electric Hopper Door Opener, Cable-Lok Spool Roll tarp, the Arm-Matic flip arm system and Shur-TrakII front-to-back cable system, and others.

Shur-Co. has been innovative in creating many tarping systems for the Agricultural, Construction, and Flatbed industries, and continues to expand their product offerings into other custom fabrication areas.

Locally, Shur-Co. of Ohio is located at 1100 N. Freedom St., in Ravenna, Ohio.

In 2009, Shur-Co. introduced the ProTrap Electric Hopper Door Opener and subsequently developed the SMARTrailer Package. It has everything you need to tarp smarter — you can load and unload faster, easier and safer with the 3500 Series Electric tarp option and the ProTrap Electric Hopper Door Opener.

The 5-channel SMARTransmitter lets you operate the tarp, front and rear hoppers, plus two more 12-volt accessories.

Those new product offerings in the agriculture and construction markets helped Shur-Co. move forward during the rougher economic period we’ve seen in the last 18 months.

The company also expanded its custom tarp products, like rail car covers, and is turning its attention to construction tarp systems, too.

The Ohio location is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Give them a call at 330-297-0888, or e-mail Greg Graff at ggraff@shur-co.com. You can also visit the website, www.shurco.com.