Izzy Acquires Sweetwater Products

SPRINGLAKE — Office furniture-maker izzydesign has acquired Grand Rapids-based Sweetwater Products Inc.

A contemporary of izzydesign, Sweetwater Products was launched in 2001 by furniture veteran Brad Stevenson as a high-tech manufacturer of wood-based office and institutional furniture and furniture products. The company focuses on flexible, freestanding furniture similar to offerings already available in the izzydesign portfolio, including casegoods, tables and work surfaces. It has found particular success in integrating information technology and manufacturing systems to create engineered-to-order products, what the firm refers to as “parametric” technology.

Sweetwater Products will close its 70,000-square-foot Grand Rapids operation at

3903 Roger B. Chaffee Drive

by the end of the year. Manufacturing equipment and parametric technology systems will relocate to the izzydesign facility at

17237 Van Wagoner Road

in SpringLake

Stevenson will join izzydesign as director of operations of the SpringLake furniture manufacturing facility. His partner, Scott Sikkema, will work with izzydesign on strategic sourcing opportunities. The 30 current Sweetwater employees will have the option of working at the SpringLake facility as employees of temporary staffing agency EmploymentGroup, with the possibility of eventually becoming full-time employees.

“We are very pleased to have a new group of talented individuals on our team, who bring a new literacy to izzy,” said Chuck Saylor founder and president of izzydesign.