Skip to content
‹ Back to IndustriesArchitecture & Design

Engineering Value: How Draper is Looking Back and Forging Ahead

On this episode of Engineering Value, a Draper podcast, host Tyler Kern was joined by Chris Broome, fifth-generation President of the company. The duo dove into Draper’s (https://www.draperinc.com/) unique and extensive history as a family-owned business for well over a century, the company’s current values and initiatives, and where the business is headed as a…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Architecture & Design teams put it to work with Executive Thought Leadership.

Promoted content from Draper on MarketScale.

·
Share

Free workspace

Turn your Architecture & Design expertise into content.

Record interviews, organize footage, and write with AI on a free trial of the MarketScale platform for qualifying companies. No demo required, no credit card.

Try it Free

On this episode of Engineering Value, a Draper podcast, host Tyler Kern was joined by Chris Broome, fifth-generation President of the company.

The duo dove into Draper’s (https://www.draperinc.com/) unique and extensive history as a family-owned business for well over a century, the company’s current values and initiatives, and where the business is headed as a new decade dawns.

The family-owned nature of Draper, Broome said, is something the company is particularly proud of.

“I always knew Draper was unique, being around for 118 years and still being in the family, so I did some research,” he said. “One of the things I found out is only 30% of family-owned businesses make it to the second generation and, from there, only 13% make it to the third and 3% to the fourth.

“It must be very unusual for a company to get to the fifth generation.”

The company was founded by Broome’s great great-grandfather, Luther Draper, to manufacture window shades for schools. Obviously, Draper has evolved immensely in more than a century of operation, expanding to a wide variety of new products and innovations.

Specifically, in the 1950s, then-President Luther Pidgeon began producing projector screens, just one example of the company shifting to keep up with modern demands, innovations and trends.

That tradition of living on the cutting edge continues today and remains the driving factor behind Draper’s success.

For the latest news, videos, and podcasts in the Pro AV Industry, be sure to subscribe to our industry publication.

Follow us on social media for the latest updates in B2B!

Twitter – @MarketScale

Facebook – facebook.com/marketscale

LinkedIn – linkedin.com/company/marketscale

Draper

Part of this channel

Draper

Real perspectives on quality and value in US manufacturing

Visit the channel

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Architecture & Design starts with a company putting its architects, designers, and spec writers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Specifiers choose partners whose work they have already seen explained, and your designers can be that explanation.

Book DemoSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.
B2B Weekly

The week in Architecture & Design, and sixteen other industries, every Monday.

Ten stories, one-line takes, five minutes. Free.

Architecture & Design: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Architecture & Design buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free Trial

You just read one Architecture & Design expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your architects, designers, and spec writers into the articles, video, and social content Architecture & Design buyers are searching for. Start a free trial and see it with your own people. For qualifying companies, no credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What your free trial includes

Hands-on access to the MarketScale platform
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
No demo required. No credit card.
For qualifying companies. Company confirmation required.

More Architecture & Design Insights

SOM's twin-tower Sany IROOTECH headquarters in Guangzhou wins Best Tall Building Worldwide

SOM's twin-tower Sany IROOTECH headquarters in Guangzhou wins Best Tall Building Worldwide

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's Sany IROOTECH Headquarters in Guangzhou, a complex of 204-meter and 186-meter towers, won Best Tall Building Worldwide at the Council on Vertical Urbanism Awards. Its exposed hexagrid frame is designed to accommodate movement under wind and seismic forces. For owners in high-load sites, that frame is the lesson.

  • 01This cycle's best tall building stands 204 meters, roughly a quarter of the 828-meter Burj Khalifa, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed both.
  • 02Sany IROOTECH’s frame uses five-story mega-column modules with suspended floors, built to stay strong while accommodating wind and seismic movement.

Nov 4, 2026

How staggered sectors help firms in a sluggish market

How staggered sectors help firms in a sluggish market

At SMRT Architects & Engineers, an advanced manufacturing win can move to staffing in two weeks, while civic projects can take nine months to start.

  • 01The civic job a firm wins today is the backlog that keeps its team billing nine months from now, after private clients may have gone quiet.
  • 02Comparing win-to-staffing timelines can test whether diversification protects utilization or just spreads work across similar schedules.

Nov 2, 2026

Why Boon Edam's frameless revolving door stops at three meters

Why Boon Edam's frameless revolving door stops at three meters

Boon Edam’s frameless Crystal Tourniket uses its glass for structural strength, capping the diameter at three meters because the unsuspended glass ceiling would sag. Boon Edam says in the video that a wheelchair-accessible revolving door needs two rings and a wider drum, so the door needs an adjacent accessible entrance. The door complies with EN 16005:2023, published in 2024 as national bodies moved to withdraw the 2012 edition.

  • 01Boon Edam caps the Crystal Tourniket at three meters because its glass ceiling hangs from nothing and would sag past that span.
  • 02A wheelchair-accessible revolving door needs two rings and a drum wider than any Crystal Tourniket, so the lobby needs a second, adjacent accessible door.

Oct 23, 2026

Explore More Architecture & Design Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Architecture & Design.

Browse Architecture & Design Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Architecture & Design and beyond.

Book a Demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512