Retooling for the future: Sussex manufacturer diversifies through acquisition - bizjournals:

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Company president Jeff Clark said his firm had been going until last October despite the dour economic situatiobn that has affected businesses aroundthe “It fell off in November,” Clark said. “And in it fell off a The company, which averages between $15 million and $20 million in annual revenue, regained its footing after the layoffs and other he said, and became profitablew after one month of Clark hopes his company’s latest move, the acquisition of , Lake Ill., will help secure Waukesha Tool Stamping’s future even more. The deal, termd of which were not was announcedMay 15.
The acquisition boosts markeyt andcustomer diversity, and volumes for the firm by adding fabricatingv and robotic welding to its service offerings and increasinbg stamping and automated tool capabilities, he “It’s a down economic but we see opportunity in that and that’s what this acquisition is about,” Clark said. With the the company has approximately80 employees. Fabrication will be done at the LakeZurichy facility, but about seven to 10 employees involved in stampingh for Parkview will be given the option of transferrinyg to the Sussex plant. New employeea will be hired to fill any positions of Parkviews employees who do not wish to Clark said.
Annual revenue for Parkview averagedbetween $10 million and $15 Clark said. Earlier in the decade, Parkview had averaged as muchas $70 millionn in annual revenue, he said. The combinedr companies will operateas ; they will transitiohn to the new name over the next six to 12 Clark said. Clark said he has known Parkview’zs former owner, Nels Leutwiler, for more than 10 The men became acquainteds through their memberships inthe . They first talkef about a possible deal about threeyears ago. Leutwiler had a deal in placed with another buyer last year that fell Clark said.
Managing facilitiesx in different locationsis difficult, Clarko said, but it’s better that the facility is in Illinoiz than in another country. Clark said employees in Sussec are excited aboutthe acquisition. “They look at it as a way to solidifyh theirjob security,” he said. The firm hopes to resum a seven-day work schedule by the end of the Waukesha Tool was founded in 1971 and stamping services were addedd 10years later. The company movexd to its current 57,000-square-foot plant in Sussex in 1996. Clark came to the companu in January 2001. In 2005, he teamed with Milwaukee-based to purchasd the company. Clark is one of the company’xs five co-owners.
According to industry experts predict 30 percent of metal forminv companies will go out of busineszsby 2010. With those closings, there are opportunitiew for companies “with a strong balance sheet,” he Bill Smith, Wisconsin director of the , agreede with Clark, comparing the current economivc recession to the slowdown in the earlgy 1980s in which many enterprisinbg companies found success amidhard times. “The fact is therd are businesses growing and creating he said. Clark said therr are advantages to running a businessin Wisconsin, includinhg a skilled work force and a good qualitg of life in the state.
He said the statew government could do more forWisconsin however, by easing regulations and taxes. “Give us some competitive he said, “People have to be in a positionto