There’s a moment every project manager remembers: the first time their work leaves the lab and enters the real world.
For Jake Bloomfield, that moment came early in his career. Standing in front of the first assembled boat seat featuring Morbern’s Rio™ pattern, he could see months of conceptual work, testing, revisions, and collaboration come together in a single, finished product; functional, refined, and ready for use.
Seeing that seat wasn’t just exciting. It was grounding. It reinforced what manufacturing is really about. The work doesn’t live on paper or screens. It lives in a final product and in the pride that comes from knowing you helped build it.
An important lesson also realized from that moment was simple: the details mattered. And when you commit fully to the process, the payoff lasts far longer than the launch.
Creativity, Manufacturing-Style
Creativity in manufacturing doesn’t start with a blank canvas; it begins with constraints.
In R&D, creativity shows up in how problems are approached, how materials are tested, and how solutions evolve. A failed test isn’t a setback; it’s information. It’s an opportunity to rethink, adjust, and find a better path forward.
At Morbern, creativity isn’t separate from consistency; it’s built into it. Day to day, that means showing up curious, asking better questions, and being willing to challenge assumptions, again and again.
Morbern’s development philosophy is to understand our customers and help them be more successful in their specific need; be it better performance, increased production ability, new design concepts or any other aspect of business that we can help our customers be successful.
Customers may be surprised at first, but that openness quickly builds trust. When feedback directly shapes the outcome, the final product feels less like a specification and more like a technical solution tailored to real needs.
For R&D, this approach keeps the work challenging and engaging. No two projects follow the same path, and no two customers bring the same insights.
A Place That Feels Different
Morbern’s culture is shaped as much by its people as by its products.
As a 4th generation, family-owned company rooted in a small community, Morbern carries a rare sense of continuity in manufacturing today. This feeling bring stability & trust to the workforce, with multiple team members have been with the company longer than Jake’s 30 years on this earth. This shared history creates an environment built on respect, mentorship, and teamwork.
Working alongside people who’ve dedicated decades to the craft reinforces an important truth: quality isn’t rushed, and craftsmanship is something you grow into over time.
Why R&D Never Gets Old
R&D is unpredictable by design. There is no “typical” day. New challenges surface constantly. Plans shift. Tests fail. And that’s exactly what keeps it interesting.
The motivation comes from knowing that every challenge brings an opportunity to learn—and that every solution pushes the product, and the team, forward. Every customer brings their own unique opportunities, and Morbern has learned many lessons from 60 + years of solving difficult technical problems for our customers.
In a multigenerational business like Morbern, that mindset matters. It’s how tradition is respected without standing still. It’s how new ideas earn their place alongside decades of experience. Redundant and out of place – if you want to add this move it up.
For Jake, being part of that legacy means contributing thoughtfully, learning continuously, and leaving the work better than he found it—one pattern, one product, one problem at a time.