New Owner for Creative Edge Master Shop
FAIRFIELD, Iowa – Weaton Capitol Holdings, a local private-equity company, is the new owner of waterjet stone-cutting pioneer Creative Edge Master Shop, but founder Jim Belilove will remain with the company.
Nate Weaton and Jim BellloveWeaton Capital will retain operations for the company in Fairfield, located 95 miles southeast of Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital. The sale includes two other divisions of Creative Edge: ToolKeepers and Resilient Flooring.
Belilove will remain as a principal for four years, assisting Weaton Capital President/CEO Nate Weaton.
“I was driving the stagecoach, and then Nate Weaton climbed aboard,” he says. “We came to an agreement, and without stopping it or changing how Creative Edge operates, he will now have the reins.
It’s the same stagecoach and the same direction. I’m now the seasoned sidekick, sitting shotgun.”
Weaton says that his company’s guiding principle is to protect and value the founder’s legacy when they invest in a company.
“We hung out our shingle because we want to be local, we want to invest in Iowa businesses,” he says.
“Nate Weaton is a born-and-bred Iowan and Fairfield resident with deep roots in this community,” says Belilove. “He plans to be involved in daily operations at our factory.
“While he provided the investment capital, he’s not an arms-length investor. Rather, he’s a ‘roll-up-your-sleeves’ investor.”
In 1988, Creative Edge pioneered the use of waterjet-technology to create intricate, renaissance-quality designs for stone and tile flooring. Today, Creative Edge is known worldwide for creating more than 10,000 floors and wall murals in hotel lobbies, airports, children’s hospitals, churches and government buildings.
High profile, award-winning projects from Creative Edge, include the Astronaut Memorial at Kennedy Space Center, visitor’s center at West Point and the entryway to Disney World in Florida. Recent award-winning projects include the marble front lobby medallion at the Bellagio Las Vegas; the steel-and-granite “Spotlight on Broadway” sidewalk in New York’s Times Square; and the 70,000 ² terrazzo floor at Pittsburgh International Airport.
Creative Edge is also one of the few Iowa companies that exports a made-in-the USA product to other countries, contributing to both the national and local economies.
“People often think this level of artistry could only be created overseas with cheaper labor,” says Belilove. “But Creative Edge installations are actually a perfect combination of American manufacturing and American design.”
Weaton feels his new association with Creative Edge is a perfect fit, like “inserting a square peg in a square hole.” Weaton brings a wealth of relevant experience to Creative Edge, with a background of both entrepreneurial ventures and large public-company experiences.
“You keep doing what you’re doing,” he says. “You build on the really great thing, which in the case of Creative Edge, are beautiful installations that Jim has created globally. This has impact, and I wouldn’t think of changing the brand.”
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