In 1980, Ron Sisson purchased the assets of Spartan Millwork company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Spartan manufactured louver shutterette doors and window blinds in small quantity. The newly formed company, Karona, was named after Ron's 2 daughters, Karin and Rona. As new Karona clients requested patio, interior and exterior full size doors from the small 10 person workforce, Karona grew in the mid 1980s to a new facility in Grandville, Michigan. Office systems manufacturers also assisted in the growth of Karona as a supplier of contract systems furniture components. Over the years the Karona reputation for high quality doors created additional demand for higher volumes of residential product. As the Karona distribution grew, so did the need for additional space and more modern manufacturing equipment. With management's engineering background and desire to travel to evaluate new production equipment, Karona continued to invest and eventually doubled again in size into a 100,000 square foot faciltiy in the 80 acre Karona Industrial Park in Caledonia, Michigan Southeast of Grand Rapids.
