Input Stories

Draper, Inc. is an unusual manufacturer: a company with 700 employees located in a town—Spiceland, Indiana—with only 900 residents. Draper President Chris Broome said the town would “look a lot different” without Draper, and the company has “grown with the community”—hiring many residents of Spiceland, working closely with the school system, supporting the town library and community center, helping with cleanup efforts and much more.

Since 1902: Draper was founded near the start of the 20th century. A family-owned firm now helmed by the fifth generation—and looking ahead to the sixth—Draper began by manufacturing window shades. Since its founding, it has expanded into many other product lines, including projection screens and gym equipment.

• Broome is the great-great-grandson of founder Luther O. Draper, and he says with pride that his son now works as a regional salesperson—and is expected to step into the leadership role someday. 

Staying in Spiceland: The company’s relationship to Spiceland, meanwhile, is one of deep commitment and respect. Many of the company’s employees live in the town itself, though some live in neighboring locations.

• The company’s longstanding residence in Spiceland has allowed it to create a singular workforce—where people stay for 20, 30, even 40 years, said Broome.
• Just like the company’s founding family, these employees often pass down their commitment to Draper. There are “families of two to three generations” who work at the company—which is “unique and really interesting,” said Broome.
• One factory department head has been at Draper for 53 years, having started right after high school. Both his parents worked at Draper, too, Broome added.

Recruitment: The company encourages its workers to “grow with the company” and recruits heavily from local high schools. Not only do local highschoolers take internships at the company, but whole classes come to Draper for tours.

• Draper works closely with the school system to place interns in exactly the right department, with the strong support of Indiana’s state educational department, said Broome.
• The students do “real work” for the company, he stressed, adding that one of the program’s key benefits is the way it teaches kids basic skills applicable to any working environment—like showing up on time and not getting distracted by their phones.
• “We’re really trying to teach them the basics for having a career in the future, to expose them to possibilities,” said Broome.

Policy talk: Broome credits tax reform with enabling the expansion of his remarkable company.

• First, the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s provisions—made permanent last year in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—helped Draper build its new 100,000-square-foot facility, said Broome. Draper also “invested in equipment and automation, including a new automated paint line,” as well as solar panels for the new facility’s roof that now provide about 40% of its electricity, thanks to the bill’s provision for immediate expensing for equipment purchases.
• Second, tax reform’s estate tax measure—also made permanent last year—has helped the company plan for its future. Broome now has “much more certainty about preserving the company for the future and the ability to pass it down from generation to generation,” he said.
• However, recent tariff policy has added a new source of uncertainty, Broome said. “More certainty [regarding tariffs] would go a long way toward making us more comfortable.”

A new century: What is Draper working on in its second century? Automation and artificial intelligence are “important initiatives,” said Broome.

• Draper has created a cross-functional employee group to explore how AI can be built into many daily functions, an initiative that has begun to pay off already. Meanwhile, automating some manual parts of production, like pushcarts and spray guns, has helped Draper streamline and regularize operations, while freeing workers to do higher-level tasks.
• “We know that to be competitive in the worldwide economy, we will have to focus on doing more,” Broome concluded.