Connor Sports, a Gerflor company with its production mill based in Amasa, Michigan, celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2022, including sesquicentennial activities and events to pay tribute to its employees, customers, dealer community, and supply partners.
Formed originally in Wisconsin in 1872 by the Connor family, the company began as a furniture manufacturer. It later produced other lumber-based products, including toys. Fast forward to the turn of the century and beyond, and the company’s proud heritage of producing high-quality hardwood basketball courts pre-dates the origin of the sport. Connor Sports manufactures courts, gymnasium floors, and dance studios at its production mill located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in remote Amasa, Michigan, population 300, from the raw material of northern hard maple sourced from sustainably harvested forests located primarily in Michigan.
The company is best known today in the global sports equipment industry as the Official Court of the NCAA since 2006, the preferred court for over 15 DI championship tournaments, and official partner of the international sanctioning body of basketball FIBA, the Rio and Tokyo summer Olympic games and scores of schools, community youth, and recreation organizations and other sporting facilities.
“Connor Sports is extremely proud to acknowledge our 150th anniversary from a heritage born of the hard work ethic and commitment of generations of proud timber workers forming our raw materials supply chain in the forests of Michigan and the skilled men and women at our production mill in Amasa that make our high-quality products possible,” said Benjamin Bachman, CEO Connor Sports. “Equally important to our growth and industry leadership position is the strength of our nationwide dealer community and our longtime partners, including the NCAA.”
To showcase the 150th anniversary, Connor Sports today unveiled a new sesquicentennial logo that blends the company’s heritage and its workforce with the natural elements of timber, sustainability, and forward-reaching research and technology. The new logo will be displayed in various expressions, including at the company’s mill in Amasa, on promotional items from Men’s and Women’s Final Four court replicas to employee apparel and digital platforms of website and social media.
Connor Sports and its furniture-to-toys-to-basketball courts’ journey joins a small but prestigious list of the oldest companies in the U.S., ranging from the iconic products of Ames tools and Dixon Ticonderoga pencils to the diversified product line of Dupont and the typewriter-to-firearms evolution of Remington.
In 2022, Connor Sports will host a series of activities and tributes throughout the nation, including basketball-themed events in conjunction with the NCAA Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tournaments and Final Four, events at the company’s mill in Michigan, and virtually through the website and social media channels.
