DOWAGIAC — The building of Lyons Industries is relatively unassuming. Gray and white brick adorns the outside of the building, which sits on M-62 in Dowagiac. A sign carrying the title Lyons Industries is small, close to the ground, easy to miss. There have been many who have driven past the business, not even knowing it was there.

Despite this, Lyons Industries has spent the last 50 years being one of the largest, most profitable businesses in Dowagiac.

Lyons Industries, which manufactures kitchen and bath products, is celebrating its 50th year of business this year. To commemorate the occasion, President Lance Lyons and his father Don Lyons, from whom Lance took over the company, reminisced about the decades of business Lyons Industries has had and what the community of Dowagiac means to the company.

“I’m delighted we’ve made it to 50,” said Don, who now serves as the mayor of Dowagiac. “It’s great to be here.”

Lyons Industries was started by Don’s father in 1968. In 1970, at 24 years old, Don became involved in the company. Since then, he has seen the company grow from a small operation to one of the largest employers in Dowagiac and a company that is respected nationwide.

“We just stayed patient, took opportunities, and now we have more than four acres of floor space,” he said. “We are one of the biggest of our kind in the
country.”

Don attributes much of his success to a drive to succeed, a little luck and mindset where he was always looking forward.

“When you are in the middle of a situation, you don’t tend to think of where you come from, you think of where you are going and what you are going to do when you get there,” Don said. “It hasn’t been since the last [10] years, when I have been able to take a step back from the company that I’ve been able to reflect on it.”

Lance, who took over as president of Lyons Industries in 2006, said that he is honored to run Lyons Industries and follow the family business his father and grandfather started.

“I have big shoes to fill, literally,” he said. “This is a family legacy and I’m very proud to be here.”

Lance said he is grateful to the city of Dowagiac for the home it provided to Lyons Industries and that he believes that Lyons Industries and Dowagiac have benefitted from each other over the last half-century.

“We employ 120 people, and we are always hiring more,” he said of how Lyons Industries has impacted Dowagiac. “I think we have done well here.”

Both Don and Lance said that it will be hard to predict the next 50 years of the company, but said that Lyons Industries will continue to employ a forward-thinking mindset.

“It’s always what is coming up next,” Lance said. “There is so much we have done and so much we are going to do.”