Fred Ball Speaking on Business Each weekday on KSL Radio 1160, Fred Ball of Zions Bank highlights a Utah business -- from small home based businesses to large Utah based corporations. Access the latest "Speaking on Business" report below. More info on Speaking on Business

Serta Salt Lake -- March 9, 2004

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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.

Founded by a German immigrant more than 110 year ago, Salt Lake City Mattress, now Serta Salt Lake, has been helping folks sleep better for a long time.

It all started when Frederick Eberhardt originally immigrated to Utah to make his fortune in mining, but soon found he and his fellow miners needed something to sleep on. This inspired him to make his first piece of bedding, which later lead to the establishment of Salt Lake Mattress. In the early 1930s the company changed to Serta Salt Lake, allowing it to grow its brand. Now, more than seven decades later, Serta's quality bedding (as well as its "counting sheep"), are recognized worldwide.

I was interested to discover that over those seven decades, mattresses have been made out of a lot of things, including horsehair and cotton from cottonwood trees. Curt Crowther, president of Serta Salt Lake, tells me that today's Serta mattresses are made using space-age foams and high-loft synthetic and down fibers. He says these materials, combined with Serta's patented inner springs, help people sleep better, resulting in better, more productive days.

My friend Curt started working at Serta as an MBA student at the University of Utah. He liked the company so much that he worked up the ranks, eventually purchasing it in 1985.

Since that time, the company moved from downtown Salt Lake to a new facility off of Redwood Road. This allowed production to double to 1,000 pieces of bedding a day.

Curt is one of seven men who own the Serta brand. I was thoroughly amused to learn how the brand came about. It turns out that the original owners put their initials in a hat, drew them out and voila! the brand was born. With 28 factories in the continental U.S., Serta produces an annual 800 million in sales and manufactures between five and six million pieces of bedding a year, making the company one of the best in its field.

For Zions Bank, I'm Fred Ball. I'm speaking on business.

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