OklahomaHorses Magazine July 2022

8 OklahomaHorses • July / August 2022 Edwards Canvas, Inc. Designers and Manufacturers of Protective Specialty Covers Since 1957 by Anna Holton-Dean | Photos courtesy of Edwards Canvas, Inc. B oasting one of the largest lines of canvas products in the United States, Edwards Canvas has you covered — quite literally. For more than 65 years, Edwards Canvas, Inc., has been manufac- turing truck and trailer tarps and hundreds of other canvas products ranging from agriculture tarps and covers to recreational covers, tents, shades, and industrial tarps, all from the company’s plant in Pauls Valley. Products and Services Edwards’ extensive range of products includes tarps and tarping systems for grain trailers, hay trucks, open-top vans, end dumps, belly dumps, bobtails, grain carts, spreaders, rock and sand beds, bulk trailers, freight trailers, drop trailers, goosenecks, drill covers, recreational vehicles, mesh tarps, haystack covers, feedlot shades, windscreens, flat tarps, machinery covers, gym-floor covers, mats and pads, feedbags, trailer curtains, loading aprons, hay chaps, bags, dock sealers, tube covers, and other products. The company is approved to work on classified government projects and pro- tective covers for NASA, SpaceX, and Lockheed Martin. Edwards can supply complete hardware for rollover and rollup units for all types of transport trailers and grain beds, 10-wheel- ers and pups, fertilizer spreaders, and grain carts, along with cargo-control straps, winches and binders, rubber straps, trailer hooks and straps, rope, and chain. Edwards Canvas also features a large installation department for trailer tarp- ing systems, open-top trailers, boats, and recreational products. It offers economical and expert service and repair on almost all canvas-related products. Edwards also offers qualified product design, testing, and mar- keting. The Edwards crew travels all across the United States measuring and installing various products. Hometown Service Available Nationwide Clayton Edwards founded Edwards Canvas in 1957. He began to make leather items such as chaps and bridles to support him- self while in college. Leatherwork required the same heavy-duty sewing machines as canvaswork. The company, which began with Edwards and one employee, grew from there. Today, Edwards Canvas oper- ates a 30,000-square-foot plant convenient- ly located just off I-35 in Pauls Valley. Edwards married his wife, Sharron, in 1962. They have two daughters, three grand- children, and four great-grandchildren. Edwards also founded 4E Cattle Com- pany, and now he and his grandson J. D. run a cow-calf and stocker operation and a grow yard and trucking company, 4E Livestock, LLC, making all the Edwards enterprises truly a family affair. “I like working for a family business,” says Tina Steele, sales manager of Edwards Canvas. “We want to treat everyone that comes in as family. Our customers are mostly all returning customers because we treat them the way we would want to be treated. When you do business here, you experience that hometown feel. There’s not much of that type of small-town customer service anymore. BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT Clayton Edwards, founder of Edwards Canvas, enjoys the practical side of working with canvas. Edwards Canvas in Pauls Valley is one of the nation’s leading manufacturers of canvas products.