Photo: GoBlue85 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sportsgraphics, the Clarion company that makes logo mats and padding for school gyms around the country, reached its 30th year in business in 2017.
The idea came from Wright County resident Jim Russell in 1987: geometric “ultamats” for school gyms, cut from contoured foam and printed with team logos. Hagie Manufacturing bought the business soon after. Mike Conlon was hired by Hagie as a sales representative, which is how the Conlon family got involved.
The Conlons bought the company in 1992. They first made the mats in the family’s former bakery on Clarion’s Main Street, the building that later became Fuel, before moving out to the current shop at 1791 Page Avenue, between the Clarmond golf course and Lake Cornelia.
Brothers Tom and Pat Conlon own and run it, and different family members have worked in the manufacturing over the years.
Curt Hanneman writes for Clarion News Online.