History
Crown Manufacturing is a 34-year-old family business that has grown with the Stem family, beginning in 1980 when Billy J. Stem Sr. and his partner worked out of a facility in northwest Tennessee, manufacturing ball caps. Within a year, Mr. Stem became sole proprietor and was joined by his son, Joey (Billy J. Stem, Jr.). Over time, the business incorporated other apparel items and embroidery equipment to diversify while always remaining dedicated to outstanding service and customer relations.
Joey assumed operational control in 2000 and dissolved the hat manufacturing portion of the business and moved the newly incorporated Crown Manufacturing and its embroidery operations to Memphis, Tennessee in 2003. When his daughter, Julie, joined in 2011, Crown became a majority woman-run business. Crown maintains its family feel through a rich history of valued employees and close business relationships paired with great customer service and quality merchandise. It has become one of the largest contract embroidery companies in the country by remaining highly competitive and service-oriented.
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Certified Women-Owned Business
Crown supports equal opportunity in the workplace and has been a majority woman-run and owned business since 2011. We are a proud member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), which provides the most widely recognized and respected certification in the United States for Women’s Business Enterprises (WBE).
Meet Our Embroidery Team Leaders
Joey StemCo-OwnerJoey has been the catalyst for the Crown Manufacturing growth. His entrepreneurial and leadership skills have been critical for maintaining a competitive edge through innovation, personnel retention, and equipment modernization.
Jill StemCo-OwnerJill brings years of leadership and human resource management experience to our Crown senior leadership team. Her experience and personnel management have enabled Crown Manufacturing to maintain one of the most tenured and experienced workforces within the industry.
Julie McKnightCo-Owner & Senior Projects ManagerJulie has chosen to use her educational and project management background to further the family business. Her numerous responsibilities run the spectrum of all aspects of the business including serving as one of our embroidery ambassadors, handling customer orders from initial request to end customer receipt.
Whitney BagwellOperations ManagerWhitney is our most tenured associate and principal embroidery ambassador with over 24 years of experience. She is a recognized leader and possesses exceptional knowledge that is critical for quality embellishment and embroidered apparel.
Why Crown Manufacturing
Crown Manufacturing is one of the largest contract embroidery companies in the United States, with a rich history that dates back nearly 35 years. Over the years we have constantly pursued innovation, always adapting to customer needs and maintaining leadership in the industry by integrating technology with our CAD/CAM operations for large contract embroidery projects.
At home, we focus on worker safety and satisfaction, which has led us to have a heavily tenured and experienced workforce that ensures the flexibility and facility to serve our customers with unprecedented customer service and quality merchandise.
History
1980
Billy Stem & J.C. “Pee Wee” Thomas founded Crown Manufacturing, Inc. and began manufacturing Baseball caps with just two sewing machines.
1984
Billy Stem becomes sole owner of Crown Manufacturing, Inc.
1989
Billy’s son Joey joins the company. Within two years he has increased revenue 200%.
1991
Crown purchases its first new Barudan 15-head embroidery machine. specifically to embroider unfinished cap panels.
1991
Congressman John Tanner travels to Saudi Arabia and personnel presents “Desert Storm” General Norman Schwarzkof with a Crown manufactured logo cap “Support Desert Storm.”
1994
Crown increases manufacturing capacity to 96 embroidery heads.
2000
Billy Stem passes away. Joey Stem becomes president and owner of Crown Manufacturing, Inc.
2003
Crown relocates from Reelfoot Lake, TN to Bartlett, TN. Business focus is changed from cap manufacturing to Direct Embroidery.
2004
Varsity Spirit Fashions selects Crown as their camp wear embroidery service provider.
2006
Jill Stem joins the Crown team as CEO.
2012
Crown becomes a WBENC Woman-Owned Certified Business.
2012
Crown and Nike Golf North America enter into an agreement for Crown to serve as Club and Tournament embroidery service provider.
2012
Crown makes large technology investment and leap within the embroidery business by completely networking the entire production facility, enabling digital file transfer from order to placement to end customer shipment.
2013
Revenues have increased XXX% each of the past 5 years
2013
Crown increases production capacity with the addition of the purchase of 12 new Barudan embroidery machines – now 300 heads of embroidery and occupying almost 30,000 sq ft.
2014
Crown receives Nike factory certification on first attempt. Crown is lauded for employee knowledge, cleanliness, and safety.