Made in Grundy County

MORRIS – One of Grundy County's hidden manufacturing companies is Rayjus Inc.

Located in northeast Morris at 1302 Spruce St., the business makes customized athletic jerseys, sun shirts, t-shirts, hats, neck gaiters and other apparel. They also produce banners, flags, lamb blankets, towels and even tablecloths, all to the particular specifications of the customer.

The name Rayjus is an amalgam of the first names of its owners, Ray Odom and Justin Romines. The company takes large orders from all over the country, and they also are happy to take single orders of even a single item from walk-in customers who visit on weekdays.

Designs for sports teams and clubs are popular, as is clothing ordered for families and groups who want to wear matching shirts or hoodies for vacations or reunions, bridal showers or other events. Or just for fun.

“Just about every shirt is individually made for each person,” Odom said.

Odom and Romines previously worked at a custom athletic apparel business, but Odom said the two saw a need for a different technology to produce tournament fishing jerseys. Both enjoy the sport and had competed in tournaments together. Odom and Romines started Rayjus in 2010, operating out of Bedford Sales boat store in Morris.

“We started with just Justin and I,” Odom said. “Then after three or four months, we got a designer and a salesperson. ... It really kind of snowballed in the first six months.”

At first, they contracted out overseas as they worked to bring the manufacturing process to Morris in an affordable way.

“We didn’t know a lot about it when we started,” Romines said. “It was a big learning curve. It was a risk, for sure.”

Romines said he and Odom’s first priority was to grow the business, and the second was to figure out how to do it in the United States.

Today, the business employs 22 people, including graphic designers, salespersons, customer service, operations staff, seamstresses and more in the prep area. Everything is done at the Morris facility, including art design, printing, dyeing, cutting the material and fashioning it into the final product.

Sales are more than $1 million a year.

“One reason it’s worked so well is that we figured out the price point that worked for our customers,” Romines said. “We are also very particular about our artwork and how the shirts look when they go out the door. ... We really are on the cutting edge, too. The sublimation process is new still.”

Fabric for the items produced at Rayjus comes in white. Customers work with the designers to get the front, back and sleeves just as they want. The computer design is then printed out on a heat-resistant paper with a special type of ink that “sublimates,” or goes from a solid to a gas when heated in a large press. When the ink is sublimated onto the fabric, it produces colors that are more brilliant than most due to the bonding of the dye. The images are permanent, according to the company’s website, and don’t fade or peel.

Images can also be printed over the entirety of the shirt, right to the seams.

There is a small showroom at the front of the facility where customers can have a look at some of custom-designed items produced there. Some items, such as hats, can also be purchased readymade.

Odom and Romines have another business, OpenWater, which offers custom-made apparel with “the best possible fabrics for comfort, feel, breathability and sun protection.”

For information, visit www.rayjus.com or www.openwaterwear.com. Rayjus Inc. is located in Morris and is open to the public weekdays.