Workers begin assembling and finishing a floor for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association, one of the many floors shipped across the country by Robbins Flooring in Ishpeming. (Journal photo by Antonio Anderson)

ISHPEMING – Originally started in 1894 as a family-owned floor installation company, and later transitioning into manufacturing in the 1930s, the local sawmill has evolved to become the primary contract holder for the sports floors of the National Basketball Association and collegiate teams in the 131 years since its founding.

“We have an arrangement with the NBA that we will be producing all of the future NBA courts,” said Adriano. “So all 30 teams will have their courts made here in Ishpeming.”

The Ishpeming facility has been up and running since its construction in 1947, and it stands among one of the more specialized facilities in the Robbins Flooring fleet. Because of its specialization a majority of collegiate and professional sports courts are built there. The most recent being a floor for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“The Timberwolves arena is a little bit wider so they want their floor to be a bit wider. So they are actually building new panels that will match up with these panels. So we are going to lay all the floor out and join up all the new panels with the old panels and make sure it all fits right. Then we are going to pack it up and send it to Appleton to get finished.”

The floors built by Robbins are special due to their locking system, which was introduced in 2016, and its built-in rubber shocks, which help protect the joints of the players.

“Because of the Rapid-Latch System, the arena managers can tighten or loosen the floor depending if the floor is contracting or expanding,” said Adriano. ” That allows the arena manager to make sure there aren’t those gaps in the floors.”

Adriano believes that the Rapid-Latch System is what establishes Robbins Flooring as the premier choice for professional sports flooring. Yet being in the U.P. leads the challenge of building in the winter. Yet winter does not slow down Robbins, as just recently the business put in a humidity control system in their finishing building to protect floors from the dry air of Upper Peninsula winters.

“In the winter, when it gets dry, it will actually shoot a bit of mist out there so the floors don’t get damaged,” said Adriano.

While overcoming this challenge and more, Robbins in Ishpeming has built an innumerable number of floors for sports.

“We just built a floor that went to the University of Memphis, we built a floor that went to Northern Kentucky, we have a floor that we are going to finish next that is going to the University of Texas.”

The business has built flooring that has gone to more than 50 different countries, an untold number of collegiate sports teams and professional teams. Even as Robbins sends floors across the world, they still focus on their community. They even secured a deal with NICE Community School District to provide the gym floor for their new gymnasium.

“Which is really cool because my kids went to school there and my grandkids are going to school there now,” Adriano said. “So I definitely have a vested interest in that.”

Adriano remembers when one of his sons was younger, taking his travel basketball team onto the plant to get a photo with the center circle of the Los Angeles Lakers floor they were working on.

“Now all my children actually work here now or have worked here,” said Adriano. “My brother-in-law worked for Robbins for over 40 years, and actually my father-in-law, back in the 90s, worked for Robbins.”

Adriano himself has worked for Robbins for nearly 20 years. He fondly remembers working at the Ishpeming Burger King in the late 80s and being so frustrated with Robbins for hiring their workers, up until they hired him in the early 2000s.

“I started from the very bottom job and now, just about three and a half years ago, I got promoted to plant manager,” said Adriano. “For me, to be able to say that I worked my way up and now my children are working for me is pretty cool.”

This connection to Ishpeming can also be seen in the workers employed at Robbins.

“There are a lot of Westwood alumni that work here,” said Adriano. ‘Ishpeming as well.”

Adriano hopes that those in Ishpeming and Marquette County can find a certain pride in having a local business do so much in the world of sports.

“You’ll see the fruits of our labor on TV with the NBA or college basketball,” said Adriano. “But I find it important for locals to have a place that’s in their backyard makes something that is internationally recognized. There is a lot of shared pride in that.”

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.