Columbia Industries is a company involved in the manufacture and sale of
bowling balls
"Bowling Balls" is a song written by Esham and Joseph Bruce for Insane Clown Posse's 2004 album '' Hell's Pit'', and the fourth single released by the group that was not produced by Mike E. Clark. The song's lyrics describe decapitation and murde ...
and
ten-pin bowling
Ten-pin bowling is a type of bowling in which a bowler rolls a bowling ball down a wood or synthetic lane toward ten pins positioned evenly in four rows in an equilateral triangle. The objective is to knock down all ten pins on the first rol ...
-related accessories. Their most notable brand name is Columbia 300, which has produced some of the most well-known balls in the sport. Beginning in 1960 in
Ephrata, Washington
Ephrata ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Grant County, Washington, United States. Its population was 8,477 at the 2020 census.
History
Ephrata was officially incorporated on June 21, 1909 and was given the county seat for the newly creat ...
(near the
Columbia River), Columbia Industries was the first manufacturer to successfully use polyester resin ("plastic") in bowling balls. Prior to this, nearly all bowling balls were made of a hard rubber material. The company later moved to
San Antonio, Texas
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, subdivision_t ...
.
Columbia 300 pro staff members include
PBA Tour
The PBA Tour is the major professional tour for ten-pin bowling, operated by the Professional Bowlers Association. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, over 3,000 members worldwide make up the PBA. While most of the PBA members are Regional profess ...
champions Josh Blanchard and
Jakob Butturff
Jakob Butturff (born April 28, 1994) is a left-handed American ten-pin bowler from Chandler, Arizona and a member of the Professional Bowlers Association. He competes in events on the PBA Tour and in global events as a member of Team US ...
, plus
PWBA and international champions
Clara Guerrero
Clara Juliana Guerrero Londoño (born April 22, 1982, in Armenia, Colombia) is a right-handed Colombian ten-pin bowler who has won Colombian championships and multiple international championships. She has been a member of Team Colombia for twent ...
, Sandra Gongora and Missy Parkin.
Columbia Industries purchased the
Track and Dyno-Thane bowling ball brands in the early 2000s. In February 2007, Columbia announced that all of its brands had been acquired by
Ebonite International
Ebonite International was a parent company that oversaw the manufacture of bowling balls and bowling equipment. Their headquarters and primary manufacturing facility was located in Hopkinsville, Kentucky before closing on November 15, 2019.
The ...
. From February 2007 through November 2019, all Columbia Industries-related products were manufactured and owned by Ebonite International of
Hopkinsville, Kentucky. On November 15, 2019, Ebonite International and all of its brands were subsequently purchased by
Brunswick Bowling Products, LLC. Columbia 300-branded bowling balls are now manufactured in Brunswick plants run by BlueArc Capital Management.
Since the 80s, Columbia have sponsored the
John Jowdy scholarships for gifted college bowlers.
References
{{Bowling
Ten-pin bowling equipment manufacturers