We’re optimistic about the future,” says Bud Weisbart, vice-president of A&R Tarpaulins Inc., and the company is expanding its Fontana, Calif., manufacturing facility to get ready for that future. A&R Tarpaulins purchased a 27,000-square-foot lot next to its current location, where it provides products and services for flight hardware, ground support to aerospace companies, architectural products for homes and businesses (including awnings) and industrial products for the transportation industry. “We continue to diversify every year in our different production areas,” says marketing director Lucy Rivera. “We needed more work space.” A&R Tarpaulins, the parent company of AR Tech and AR Industries, has 48 employees, and “we’ve kept busy despite this rough economy,” says Weisbart.