Incentives, lifestyle help attract company to downtown Oberlin

OBERLIN -- The "business side" of Robyn and Robert Rouse liked the incentives offered by Oberlin's Economic Development Council. The couple's "family side" simply liked the community.

"Oberlin's a good place to raise kids," said Robyn Rouse, who, with her husband, Robert, have opened a tarp fabrication and repair shop, called Gorman Tarps, in downtown Oberlin.

The Rouses lived in Great Bend when they purchased the tarp company, retaining its original name. Looking for a new location, the Rouses considered Robert's hometown of Kingman. They settled on Robyn's hometown of Oberlin, however, attracted by incentives offered by the community's EDC.

Robert said the EDC purchased a former funeral home, which had the square footage required for the tarp business. The Rouses rent the building, he said, with an option in a couple of years to buy.

Robyn said she and Robert also received help from The Bank in Oberlin with a Small Business Loan.

The other incentive, Robyn said, was her dad, Neal Russell, who lives in Oberlin and helped the couple find the building. He also helps the couple manufacture their tarps. Gorman Tarps makes and repairs tarps of all sizes. Most of the tarps are for grain trailers and farm trucks, and for use in the trucking industry.

The company also makes tarps for oil rigs and custom covers for such things as implements, air conditioners and air compressors. The company's largest tarp so far has been a 50-foot square; the smallest was for a grill.

"Forty-foot covers for grain trucks are pretty standard," Robyn said.

All the tarps are made from five-foot-wide bolts of material, heat-sealed to create the desired width and length.

The Rouses operate two sewing machines, one for large projects, another for repairs.

Gorman Tarps is also a dealer for Shurco Shur-Lok roll-up truck tarps, equipment and repairs.

Robert hopes to expand the company's original Great Bend-area customer base to include Northwest Kansas, Southwest Nebraska and Northeast Colorado.

Gorman Tarps is open Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.; special arrangements can be made for Saturday. Call toll-free 1-888-ROL-TARP (1-888-765-8277).