William Lee “Bill” Sage of Bentonville, who established Rogers-based manufacturer Assembled Items Corp., died Tuesday (March 26) immediately after battling most cancers and lung difficulties. He was 79. The enterprise announced the founder’s loss of life Thursday.
“Mr. Sage, or Bill to any individual who at any time fulfilled him, was the heart and soul of the enterprise but experienced time for every person. He was normally engaged and fascinated in the men and women he met,” a company assertion said. “In addition, he experienced a great intellect and was endlessly mastering new points and establishing new ideas. He brought all those private attributes to APC, and we owe him a fantastic financial debt.”
Impressed by his elderly grandmother, Sage started Assembled Goods in 1983 in the garage of his Bentonville property, building a prototype for the Mart Cart, an digital browsing cart for the mobility impaired.
Forty-1 many years later on, the business has 140 workers and nonetheless manufactures mobility items like the Mart Cart, which is applied at quite a few Fortune 500 retail shops. Its makes also include Jotto Desk, remedies for community security cars, and Spray Master Systems, substantial-strain cleaning gear.
Sage’s daughter, Erin Kiefer, is Assembled Products’ best executive. She began with the production organization in 2000 as a products manager and was promoted to director of specific assignments in 2006, COO in 2016 and president and CEO in 2017.
In accordance to his obituary, a 90-minute visitation interval for Sage will commence at 2 p.m. on Friday (March 29) at Phrase of Daily life Church in Bentonville. Funeral providers will begin at 3:30 p.m.