Kreinik Manufacturing Company began as a home-based family business in 1973, selling threads for needle and craft projects. Doug Kreinik joined the business in 1983 and took full ownership in 2008.
“When my parents first started, they thought it was going to be a little retirement business. At the time they had five employees. Today we have 23 employees and the reach we have is throughout the world,” Kreinik said.
Kreinik Manufacturing Company now exports worldwide from its factory in Parkersburg. The company has received the Governor’s Export Award 24 times for selling to over 20 countries. Its website, www.kreinik.com, is being adapted to translate product information into 130 languages.
Kreinik’s high-quality silk and metallic threads are used in a variety of industries, from needlework to fly fishing. Kreinik threads have even made their way into fashion houses like Kate Spade and TV and movie sets including “Game of Thrones” and “Hocus Pocus 2.”
“Our products are respected as being top end,” he added.
Kreinik attributes part of the company’s success to his good working relationship with the West Virginia Small Business Development Center.
WV SBDC Business Coach Marsa Myers helped Kreinik find resources and different people to work with to make the business more successful. Their business relationship began about eight years ago and both have enjoyed working together to help make Kreinik Manufacturing Company the best it can be.
In fact, the company’s growing success prompted Myers to nominate Doug Kreinik for the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2023 West Virginia Exporter award, which he won. Kreinik Manufacturing also received the SBA’s 2023 Mid-Atlantic Regional Exporter of the Year award.
Myers said she was proud to watch Kreinik onstage collecting his award. “This is a person who is getting exactly everything he deserves because he’s such a wonderful client,” she said.
She also praised Kreinik as an active member and supporter of his community.
“Although he also contributes funding, he puts his face with the business name and works within our community for positive change now and for the future,” Myers said. “He works tirelessly on advisory boards for WVU, the Parkersburg Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Foundation and the Parkersburg Area Community Foundation. He has volunteered to ring bells for the Salvation Army and participated in clean-up details for the community.”
Kreinik is a role model for current generations and those to come, she added.
“He has shown not only that ‘threads visualize thoughts,’ but also that those thoughts, when they are turned into action, can positively affect the business and every person who benefits from the ripple effect of his activities.”
WV SBDC is an accredited member of America’s SBDC, a federal partner with the SBA, and a division of the WV Department of Economic Development.
WV SBDC business coaches have professional certifications ranging from exporting, innovation, technology and economic development, to finance, management, marketing and entrepreneurship.
For information about starting a small business in WV and resources for entrepreneurs, visit wvsbdc.com.