The very first pool to leave the yard after Grand Pools was acquired by Latham Group pulled out Wednesday morning. This is a major step in the growth a local business that began as a boat building operation in Arkansas and evolved into a swimming pool manufacturer a little over a year ago.

Steven and Richard Parks began Grand Pools in October of 2021 after purchasing the Grand Teton water bottling plant building on Good Hope road.

Their father, Roger Parks, and grandfather, Ernest Parks, had originally started a boat building operation in Arkansas. After Ernest passed away Roger eventually moved the boat manufacturing operation to Seminole in 2006.

During the economic downturn in 2009 – 10 they used their knowledge of working with fiberglass to other products to stay busy. This included building 80 – 90 swimming pools between 2010 – 11 using another company’s molds.

After getting their swimming pool manufacturing off the ground, they had the opportunity to become a part of the Latham Group. The lathampool. com website states that Latham is the largest designer, manufacturer, and marketer of in-ground pools in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, with over six decades of experience at the center of the backyard lifestyle.

Richard says he feels blessed to have this opportunity to expand. He shares that Grand Pools offered five pool models, but they will now be building 45 of the 52 models Latham offers.

They are now in the process of expanding and are working with the city to acquire even more room to grow.

And they are currently still in the transition stage. Richard says they are tentatively planning to have their official grand opening in May, and he hopes to have a groundbreaking ceremony on an expansion before then.

“Latham Pools is excited to be growing to meet the customer’s demand for its fiberglass pool products in this area,” Richard states. “The team is growing with open positions this month and is looking to provide more job opportunities to the Seminole area as the year progresses.”

Richard stresses that he is just one member of the dedicated team of workers that have made this success possible and refuses to take any more credit than the others. He is just thankful to be taking the Grand Pool moto, “Bringing families together – one pool at a time,” to an all-new level.