Sitting north of the intersection of US 36 and Illinois 130 in Camargo is a set of goalposts, planted in front of a non-descript steel warehouse building bearing the sign Fisher Athletics. Inside lies the Illinois plant of one of the largest manufacturers of athletic equipment in the country.

“Odds are good anyone who has watched a college or professional sporting event on television has seen our products,” says plant manager Bill Keeler.

That’s because Fisher Athletic supplies a “significant portion” of the padding used in arena sports throughout the country, including football, soccer, baseball, track, and basketball. One of their closest competitors in track & field is located in Champaign, Gill Athletics. “Besides them, the rest of the field is very fragmented,” said Keeler when asked about Gill. “We have a breadth of product that isn’t matched by anyone else.”

Fisher Athletic Equipment, Inc., founded in 1971has its headquarters in Salisbury, North Carolina. The company was purchased 10 years ago by Bob Pritchard of LaFayette, Indiana, where he and Keeler worked together. “We’ve been working together for 35 years now,” said Keeler.

“We were looking for a Midwestern location,” said Keeler, “and purchased the old Fabrionics, Inc. plant about 2 ½ years ago.” How that came about was a matter of serendipity. Keeler was in Urbana visiting his father, when he saw a foreclosure notice for the Fabrionics facility. “We approached the owners, but couldn’t come to terms. A few months later, the bank came to us, and we worked out terms,” said Keeler.

Currently, Fisher has about 65 employees in North Carolina, and nine in Illinois, with plans for the Camargo plant to expand to a similar size as headquarters. “We plan on getting a sewing line in place as we grow,” said Keeler.

Expansion when it occurs will be relatively easy. The plant has 50,000 square feet, and only about one-third of the manufacturing space is in use. “We still have plenty of room in our warehouse for our raw materials, too,” said Keeler.

Fisher’s product line includes wall pads, floor protective padding, goal post pads, pads for high jump and pole vault pits, tackle dummies, blocking dummies, and athletic bags. “We only do custom bags,” said Keeler. “Not the generic ones you can pick up in a retail store.”

Keeler says there isn’t a big enough market for overseas competitors to enter the US (Keeler estimated the total US market at $400 to $500 million), although the company does enjoy overseas sales, primarily in baseball markets. “We ship to Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Europe,” Keeler said, “although those sales only account for a small percentage of revenues.”