Beech Tree News Network

West Park Industries is a new manufacturing plant birthed by Greg and Leslie West, located at 206 Industrial Drive North in Morgantown. The Wests have been running West Park since they started the business in mid-March of this year.

The primary extent of the business is assembling football helmets for Franklin Sports Corporation out of Massachusetts, but the Wests are always looking for more opportunities:  “We just assemble here…” Leslie West, Operations Manager for West Park, stated: “Mainly my husband and I were just looking to go into business on our own. We’re both very interested in entrepreneurship in general. Football helmets isn’t really our thing, it’s just that this is the first project that fell into our lap. We are looking for other business opportunities, we’re not sticking with one avenue of business, and we’re open to anything.”

Leslie’s father in- law owns Pride Plastics; he’s the one that originally received the contract with Franklin Sports. “My husband [Greg] and I are both born and raised here, so we’ve always been in town… [They were] looking to move the line closer to Memphis Tennessee, which is where their distribution center is, and his name came up since he owned a plastics plant... He didn’t have enough space in his factory, so that’s when we decided to start… and once he got the contract we [subcontracted] with him and he pays us to assemble…. It kind of just trickled down and ended up falling into our laps. “

Morgantown Mayor Billy Phelps had the opportunity to witness the first day of production: “They’re a small business but they do employ people, and any business is a good business… it’s a business that can grow and over time become bigger... [West Park] is a good fit for our town and good fit for them to be here. It’s an extension of [Pride Plastics, an established Morgantown business] when you are hiring people you know, there’s a trust thing. It’s a big circle… these people all live here, they’re going to spend their money here in town… it benefits everyone.”
From West Park: West Park Industries, Inc. specializes in the assembly and manufacturing of Automotive, Sports, and Agricultural components and finished goods. With our vast array of experience, capabilities and flexibility, we are equipped to support most industry needs.”

Story and photos by J. Harris, Beech Tree News