restaurants, as well as selected awnings for the sets of a dozen or so major motions pictures like Spider-Man 3.

During a recent NJBIA site visit with State Senator Joseph Doria, who is also Mayor of Bayonne, and Bayonne Economic Development Director Michael O”Connor, Burak showed how this small manufacturer services some of the biggest companies in the retail, service and building industries throughout the region.

All of Hudson’s awnings are custom designed as well as custom built.  Two engineers in an office next door design each awning from scratch, and then send the plans on to the shop.  Four welders create the metal frames according to the engineers’ specifications, and then cut them in parts for transportation.  Afterwards, workers apply graphics to fabric and staple the covers to the metal frame.

It sounds very simple, but over its 125-year-history, Hudson has had to learn how to fulfill some unusual requests.

Take the movie business, for example.  As Ed Burak explains it, he did one small job for a movie company a few years ago and the contacts he made there opened up a whole new line of business.  Movie sets often have specific requirements for awnings.  For The Producers, Hudson had to make an awning that could support one of the actors, but still drape in such a way that it did not look reinforced.

Often, though, Hudson is recreating old-style awnings for movies set in historical time periods, like Mona Lisa Smile and A Beautiful Mind, and is currently providing 1950s-style awnings for the film American Gangster, which is being filmed in and around New York City.

In fact, much of Hudson’s business comes from the greater New York area, making Bayonne an ideal location for Hudson.

Doria made sure the company was part of Bayonne’s Urban Enterprise Zone program, which provides qualified businesses with reduced sales taxes and other benefits.  Doria and Burak also discussed some of the challenges of being a small manufacturer.

For Hudson, finding quality people to do the work is the hardest part.

“We have never laid anyone off,” he said.  “We have done nothing but add to our staff.

Doria suggested contacting some of the area vocational-technical schools and high school for entry-level workers.

Whatever the challenges, Burak takes a special satisfaction in the custom work his company produces.

“It’s really fun, once the pressure (of finishing a job) is off,” Ed Burak said.  “We really enjoy ourselves because we can look at it and know we created that.  It isn’t like you’re making widgets and putting them in a box.”