139-year-old Columbus cast iron foundry featured on ABC’s ‘Made in America’
A Columbus iron casting company made national news Wednesday night for its work during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Goldens’ Cast Iron, a 139-year-old Columbus staple, was featured on ABC Evening News’ “Made in America” segment for “reinventing itself during the pandemic.”
During the pandemic, the Goldens got the idea to start making hard-to-find products, like dumbbells and kettlebells, after noticing that the products weren’t readily available for purchase in the U.S. Gyms and fitness centers were also closed.
“Kettle bells were coming from China,” Goldens’ Chairman and CEO George Golden Boyd Jr. told ABC News. “Now, the product wasn’t here. America couldn’t get kettlebells. All the team here was scrambling here to figure out how to make these things, and we did. We got tooling made, got them made, and that’s how Goldens’, (a) 138-year-old company at that point, became a start-up during a pandemic.”
Since the pandemic began, ABC News reports, the company has made more than 50,000 dumbbells and 15,000 kettlebells.
The company employs 219 workers across two factories, both in Georgia. Six new hires joined this summer to keep up with demand, ABC News reported.
This retail venture aside, Goldens’ Cast Iron’s core business is manufacturing components used in various industries and markets, including construction equipment, heavy duty trucks, farm machinery and equipment, pumps, compressors and valves, materials handling equipment, railroad rolling stock, oil and gas field equipment, industrial power drives and gear, and roadway and bridge construction.
Products sold, including fire pits and grills, are marked with the phrase “Made in USA 1882.”
The company also operates a manufacturing plant in Cordele, Georgia.
