An idea is born:
In 1965 while working as a manufacturing engineer at Amcel corp. in the Bee Tree area of Swannanoa,
N. C., I became in charge for getting quotes on miscellaneous sheet metal and machined parts for a project we were building for our owner, the Celanese Corp.
Upon reviewing these quotes, I was amazed at the prices these items seemed to be worth, and after having put this project to bed; during some of my bedtime hours, my mind kept reflecting on my independent nature and the possibility of starting a metal fabrication shop and competing with some of those shops, whose prices I had quoted earlier.

Building a partnership:
My supervisor, Herchel Robinson, was the only person I knew who could and would listen to my dreams, and hopefully, I could get him to dream also. After a few months of discussion, he and I decided to explore this idea further. We invited Ed Nix, an expert fabricator, Dan Zumstein, a general machinist who could do anything mechanical, Bob Wiley, the best engineer around, to meet with us to discuss the possibilities.

To reality:
We decided to 'go for it'. We settled on the name “Blue Ridge Industrial Support Company“. I had been in the army in a unit that was named “a heavy maintenance support company” that name seemed to embody all the descriptions needed for a machine shop company, hence the above name. One item of discussion was the "blue ridge" inclusion in as much as it would seem to localize us.

Our first shop:
At this time, Mr. Wiley dropped out. In July 1966, with the help of a local attorney and $1200.00 each, we started a bank account and decided to incorporate. We rented an old sign shop in West Asheville, across from The Burger Bar Cafe, for $60.00 a month. We began buying used equipment to get started, and immediately set to gaining customers from the local area and as far away as Hendersonville. To date, we continue a good relationship with those customers who are still in business.
Kimberly Clark was one of our first customers and we still continue a good relationship with them. After a few months, I left, what at the time was Northrup Carolina and became Brisco's second employee. Working day and night as was needed, we processed parts for our "future" as fast as we could. As time went on, Dan and Ed came in full time. (A book could be written on all the negotiation that went in to buying machinery, fixing leaking roofs, covering machinery during rainy periods, on, and on.)

A new building:
In 1968, we lost our lease on our building in West Asheville and had to look for a new place. After some inquiring, a friend told me about some land for sale, some 17 acres in the Buckeye cove community. After much discussions and planning we decided to purchase the property, and the building began, we all had a hand in the building project and within a few months we moved into a new 50’x100’ building; a place "that would never have to be expanded".

As time went on, Dan left, which left three of us and not long after Hershel asked Ed and Myself if we would buy him out. An agreement was made and Ed and I then became equal owners. After Ed had become of retirement age, it became his decision to sell his stock to me. I became sole owner of Brisco, Inc.
Growth was something we didn't’t expect but, as time went on, business demanded that we expand, which we have, many times.

The passing of the torch:
During all this time of progress, my son, Loren was born, grew in knowledge of machine and fabrication techniques, and was educated at the local schools and Clemson University. After many years of floor sweeping, toilet cleaning, part inspection, delivering and learning machine operations.
Loren has become President of Brisco and has assembled a group of some of the best people to support him and attend to our customers needs.

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