First a softball team, then a sports giant

Bison Inc., a manufacturer of sports equipment in Lincoln, grew out of an athletic innovation at Industrial Machine Specialties, a custom industrial job shop manufacturer also based in Lincoln.

"We had a company softball team, and we invented a ball and bat carrier product out of metal for it," said Nick Cusick, co-founder and owner of Industrial Machine Specialties -- a holding company, now called IMSCORP, -- and Bison.

"This was in the mid '80s, when basketball was becoming very popular," he said. "Basketball was a bigger market, so we started making equipment for it."

Since that time, Bison has diversified its product line to include goalposts for football, soccer goals, volleyball equipment and materials for a variety of other sports. The company's motto is "A goal for every game."

In 2011, Bison acquired BRP site furnishings, adding the manufacture of indoor/outdoor benches, waste receptacles, bike racks and other items for public spaces to its line.

"We've grown and matured in market share" with this acquisition, Cusick said.

Bison continues to grow and diversify its product line. In 2013, the company acquired Institutional Products Inc., an Indianapolis-based manufacturer of gymnasium equipment.

"It's all custom manufacturing," Cusick said. "This industry is different than what we've done before."

Cusick, a Fremont native, enjoys doing business in Lincoln, although he has had offers to take his business elsewhere.

"Plenty of people wanted us to move to other cities," he said. "They offered all kinds of tax incentives."

But Cusick likes the culture of Lincoln, and he says the city has become more business-friendly over the years. He has no intention of leaving.

"Lincoln was always where I wanted to be," he said.