Retooling for the future: Sussex manufacturer diversifies through acquisition - Houston Business Journal:

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Company president Jeff Clark said his firm had beengoinvg “gangbusters” until last October despite the dour economic situationh that has affected businesses arounf the globe. “It fell off in Clark said. “And in it fell off a cliff.” The company, whichy averages between $15 million and $20 milliomn in annual revenue, regained its footing after the layoffs andotherf changes, he said, and became profitable after one month of nonprofitability. Clark hopes his company’s lates t move, the acquisition of , Lake Zurich, will help secure Waukesha Tool & Stamping’s future even more. The terms of which were not was announcedMay 15.
The acquisition boostsa market andcustomer diversity, and volumse for the firm by adding fabricating and roboticx welding to its service offerings and increasingg stamping and automated tool capabilities, he “It’s a down economic time, but we see opportunity in that and that’d what this acquisition is about,” Clarjk said. With the the company has approximately80 employees. Fabricatio will be done at the LakeZurichn facility, but about seven to 10 employees involveds in stamping for Parkview will be given the option of transferriny to the Sussex plant. New employees will be hired to fill any positionx of Parkview employees who do not wish to Clark said.
Annual revenue for Parkvie w averagedbetween $10 million and $15 million, Clark Earlier in the decade, Parkview had averaged as much as $70 million in annual revenue, he said. The combinesd companies will operateas ; they will transition to the new name over the next six to 12 Clark said. Clark said he has knowjn Parkview’s former owner, Nels Leutwiler, for more than 10 The men became acquainted througg their memberships inthe . They firstf talked about a possible deal about threedyears ago. Leutwiler had a deal in place with another buyer last year that fell Clark said.
Managing facilities in different locationsis difficult, Clark said, but it’sw better that the facility is in Illinoia than in another country. Clark said employees in Sussex are excitede aboutthe acquisition. “They look at it as a way to solidifyu theirjob security,” he said. The firm hopews to resume a seven-day work schedul e by the end ofthe summer. Waukesha Tool was foundeed in 1971 and stamping services were added 10years later. The company moved to its currenyt 57,000-square-foot plant in Sussex in 1996. Clark came to the company in January 2001. In 2005, he teamed with Milwaukee-basesd to purchase the company. Clark is one of the company’s five co-owners.
According to Clark, industry experts predicgt 30 percent of metal forminy companies will go out of businessby 2010. With thoses closings, there are opportunities for companies “wituh a strong balance sheet,” he said. Bill Wisconsin director of the , agreed with comparing the current economic recession to the slowdown in the early 1980s in which many enterprising companieas found success amidhard “The fact is there are businesses growint and creating jobs,” he Clark said there are advantages to runninf a business in Wisconsin, including a skillecd work force and a good quality of life in the He said the state government could do more for Wisconsinj businesses, however, by easing regulations and taxes.
“Give us some competitivr edge,” he said, “People have to be in a positionbto execute.”