last company founded by Bill Tippit
TLW was set up mainly to cater to custom boot and shoe makers. However, many of my old production customers and the new breed of “mass customization” entrepreneurs followed me there and the business soon grew faster than I had expected (or wanted, for that matter).
In December of last year [1998?], I sold TLW to Sterling Last Corp., a third generation family business that has been making lasts for some 70+ years. Rather than put the custom division on the back burner as many of my customers had feared, Sterling is making great efforts to grow that market and to offer new products and services.
— https://www.thehcc.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1160
Some of you may remember me as a last maker, specifically as the owner of The Last Word. TLW supplied semi-custom lasts to custom boot and shoe makers in the US and elsewhere for about 5 years and I did this for 2 more years after I sold the business. As we all know, it is very difficult to obtain custom lasts these days.