Assembled Products Corp. founder Bill Sage dies at 79

William Lee “Bill” Sage of Bentonville, who founded Rogers-based manufacturer Assembled Products Corp., died Tuesday (March 26) after battling cancer and lung complications. He was 79. The company announced the founder’s death Thursday.

“Mr. Sage, or Bill to anyone who ever met him, was the heart and soul of the company but had time for everyone. He was always engaged and interested in the people he met,” a company statement said. “In addition, he had a great intellect and was forever learning new things and developing new ideas. He brought those personal qualities to APC, and we owe him a great debt.”

Inspired by his elderly grandmother, Sage started Assembled Products in 1983 in the garage of his Bentonville home, building a prototype for the Mart Cart, an electronic shopping cart for the mobility impaired.

Forty-one years later, the company has 140 employees and still manufactures mobility products like the Mart Cart, which is used at several Fortune 500 retail stores. Its brands also include Jotto Desk, solutions for public safety vehicles, and Spray Master Technologies, high-pressure cleaning equipment.

Sage’s daughter, Erin Kiefer, is Assembled Products’ top executive. She started with the manufacturing company in 2000 as a product manager and was promoted to director of special projects in 2006, COO in 2016 and president and CEO in 2017.

According to his obituary, a 90-minute visitation period for Sage will begin at 2 p.m. on Friday (March 29) at Word of Life Church in Bentonville. Funeral services will begin at 3:30 p.m.