Legacy Precision Since 1996
For nearly thirty years, we have refused to cut corners. To meet the exact demands of sprung flooring, we designed and commissioned our own proprietary North American hardwood panels.
Every decision we make is guided by the same commitment to quality that built our very first floor.
As a second-generation family owned and operated business we are devoted to our legacy of building heirloom quality sprung flooring.
The O’Mara Family Story
Driven by unwavering faith, Ed and Mary O’Mara built a workshop in their back yard. This is where Ed invented the cable assembly system which gives our sprung floors a uniform resiliency and allows for simple installation. Mary created our first website on a Gateway computer with dial up internet in the attic of our small family home. As soon as the O’Mara children could count and write, they were helping in both the shop and office too.
Ed and Mary sold their first sprung floor to the Flint Cultural Center in 1996. For years semi truck drivers backed up our dead-end dirt road and down the long driveway, picking up crates of sprung floors to ship around the world. In 2003 we moved our growing operation into an industrial building in Flint, Michigan.
We could say our story began the moment Mary Moss stepped into her first modern dance class at Michigan State University. When Ed O’Mara built a dance floor on the top floor of a church for his soon-to-be-wife. Or when we transformed a crumbling flower shop into our state-of-the-art dance studio. What we know for fact is that when Ed busted his knee landing a grand jeté on a poorly sprung floor, he realized that dance flooring could make or break a career.
Ever since he was a young man, Edward O’Mara III dreamed of starting his own manufacturing business. Years later, after gaining invaluable experience in the aerospace and machining industries, working as a freelance precision carpenter and remodeling contractor, building a dance studio with sprung flooring for his wife and becoming a ballet dancer at the age of 40…his dream finally became reality.
1981
The First Floor
Carrying heavy sheets of 4’ x 8’ plywood up a steep, narrow stairway leading to the top floor of a church, Edward O’Mara III built his first dance floor for his soon-to-be-wife Mary’s first dance studio.
1994
A Better Way
After an intensive ground-up renovation transforming a rotted-out floral shop into O’Mara Training Center for Dance and Sports, Ed built the sprung dance floor on-site. As a professional precision carpenter with a background in aerospace machining, he knew there had to be a better way.
1996
Official Founding
1996 marks the official founding of O’Mara Sprung Floors. In a workshop behind the O’Mara family house, Ed O’Mara builds the first sprung dance floor that he sold to the Flint Cultural Center.
2003
Expansion
7 years in we gained traction and a spike in sprung dance floor sales helped us to purchase our first manufacturing facility in Flint, Michigan. We now have a proper loading dock and our neighbors back home are relieved to not have large semi trucks backing up our small dead-end dirt road anymore.
2009
World-Renown
The Genée International Ballet Competition ordered two sprung ballet floors for their event in Singapore. Prior to this we built the traveling stage floor for So You Think You Can Dance?, a rehearsal floor for Dancing with the Stars and had sold and shipped floors around the world to Hong Kong, New Zealand and Norway.
2014
Industrial Anti-Fatigue
After nearly two decades of standing and working on our own sprung flooring in our manufacturing shop, we began selling anti-fatigue floors to industrial manufacturing facilities. A Chrysler plant ordered custom anti-fatigue flooring to replace rubber mats along their production lines. Stepping on the new floors, employees immediately noticed an immense increase in comfort, stability and joy.
2024
Second Generation
We were counting foam blocks by age 5 and carefully handwriting package addresses by age 8. After working full-time in every aspect of the business for over a decade (and part-time since we were very young) we are now a second-generation owned and operated company. Edward O’Mara IV (EJ) is proud to carry on the legacy along with the support of his wife, sister and the entire O’Mara crew, most of whom have worked with us for a decade or more.
Today
Heirloom Craftsmanship
We continue to manufacture our wood sprung flooring with a level of craftsmanship and attention to detail that escapes the untrained eye, following processes honed over the last thirty years. We believe in continuous improvement and doing our best every day while showing up for our team and ourselves to make an incredibly valuable product for people around the world.
Legacy
A Generational Mission
At O’Mara Sprung Floors, we believe quality craftsmanship, thoughtful service, and continual improvement are inseperable. Our mission is to build sprung floors that protect movement and serve generations of dancers, athletes, and families.
Trusted Around the World
Precision Sprung Floors Built with Proprietary Materials and Processes
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February 07, 2024
Choosing the Perfect Dance Floor: A Guide for Dancers of All Styles
Dancing is an art form that goes far beyond styles and genres, and having the right dance floor is crucial...
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