Akron company, Panyard Inc., marches to beat of a different drum

AKRON, Ohio - From the outside, Panyard Inc. looks like a bland building in the middle of  an Akron working class neighborhood on California Avenue.

But if you step inside, close your eyes and listen, you can easily imagine sitting on a Caribbean beach with a mai tai at your side.

Panyard is recognized as the world leader in manufacturing steel drums. The company, now in its 21st year, carefully crafts instruments that make that "put a smile on your face" reggae sound.

Owner Ron Kerns got hooked on the music while playing in a steel drum band at the University of Akron several years ago.

"The sound drew me in long before I even imagined having a company," Kerns said.

Perfecting a steel drum -- also known as a pan -- can take 20 to 100 hours of handcrafting. The process includes using an air hammer to sink a bowl shape in a piece of carbon steel.

After that, notes are marked, shaped, smoothed out and tightened.

Ron Drouin, a Panyard employee said, "I tune them. We send them out to a polisher and a chromer and they're ready to go out to the customer."

Well, almost.

When the drums are returned to Panyard, the instruments must be finely tuned again by workers with discerning ears.

Once considered a novelty, steel drums are now regarded as quality instruments.

"When you take a Panyard pan and get it next to a Steinway piano, you go, 'Wow, two very great instruments,'" Kerns said.

But, it took a while for the drums to become desirable.

Panyard is just starting to turn a nice profit. A big reason for that: kids and schools clamoring for a beginner steel drum called The Jumbie Jam.

"The Jumbies, we're putting out close to 3,000 or 4,000 a year, and that's growing rapidly," Kerns said.

The steel drums can cost up to $5,000, but a Jumbie Jam retails for $250.

The next time the distinctive percussion perks up your ears, you might just think of Akron instead of Aruba.