Arguably, the biggest new development has been the company’s initiative of pre-engineered, configured-to-order (CTO) products to complement its customized solutions.

For Grotnes, CTOs offer multiple benefits including “faster delivery times, common platforms of parts, and spare parts that can be used across different models,” explains Vice President, Jim Zielinski. That said, customer specs sometimes demand a tailored approach, which is why Grotnes will never abandon custom work. “The custom side will always be part of our business. It’s our DNA… but the organization is trying to align itself around repeatable platforms,” he says.

Grotnes continues to build machines for four main technologies: expanding, shrinking, roll forming, and spinning. Expanding processes involve shaping metal parts for pipe couplings, jet engine components, metal containers, and the like. Shrinking entails the exact opposite procedure and aims to reduce and shape parts for motor frames, conveyor rolls, and exhaust components. Roll forming involves bending hoops of metal, while spinning is a metalworking technique based on mechanical rotation. Closing tools, used to seal or close items such as pail lids or the tabs on large-size paint cans, are also becoming a growing category.

Monumental as the introduction of CTO solutions might be, there have been other big changes at Grotnes as well. For a start, the company is going through “a digital transformation” that entails “the leveraging of AI where it makes sense in the business,” says President Mike Walker.

To this end, the company will soon launch Grotnes’ AI assistant, a tool that could be compared to Amazon’s AI-enabled, voice-led personal assistant Alexa, but for internal use only. “There’s no gateway to the outside world. It’s utilizing AI’s ability to search our databases, our files, our drawings, our pdfs, to be able to respond quickly,” explains Walker. “We’re very careful right now to adopt it where it really adds value to the company… We’ve spent a significant amount of time really focusing on, ‘How does it add value and help our customers at the end?’”

It is quite the leap for a firm that traces its roots to 1898 and a decision by one Charles Grotnes to open a machine works operation in Chicago. That business initially focused on manufacturing metal rings to hold barrel staves together. The company founder and namesake invented a time-saving machine to shape and stretch these metal rings to an appropriate size, and things took off from there.

At present, Grotnes serves the oil and gas, general industry, automotive, aerospace, rigid packaging, forging, and tanks and appliances sectors. The company uses the term ‘tanks and appliances’ to characterize its work for the power distribution and appliance markets with the tanks in question being metal storage containers.

“We do metal forming machines for large tanks that are typically used for isolation transformers, so there’s the power distribution angle, and then, from the appliance standpoint, tanks for things such as water heaters, drums for washers and dryers, dishwashers, and things like that,” Zielinski explains. Over the past year, aerospace and automotive generated the most business, a pattern that is likely to hold steady in 2026, he adds.

He has noticed something of a resurgence in the market for catalytic converters, the devices that reduce harmful exhaust emissions from combustion engines. Since large, commercial trucks would require huge electric batteries, thus limiting payloads, concerns about battery size have stalled the drive toward vehicle electrification in certain sectors. With gas and diesel-powered trucks still dominating, the demand for catalytic converters remains high. This trend is good news for Grotnes, which has been a pioneer in making machines that are used in catalytic converter production.

The company has maintained its ISO 9001:2015 certification and is gearing up to get certified when the new ISO standard (9001:2026) is released later this year. As befitting an ISO-certified company, quality assurance procedures here are rigorous. The company utilizes a coordinate measuring machine and other inspection equipment to ensure that all parts are shaped and sized correctly. Completed machines are subjected to rigorous factory acceptance testing procedures at the plant. If the machine achieves these benchmarks, it gets shipped to a customer, and the system is then put through site acceptance testing at the client’s worksite to determine that everything is in perfect working order.

“ISO is a very big part of our business and really drives the quality in our organization. We embrace that in a big way, especially the continuous improvement side of it. Every employee in our organization is able to submit improvement suggestions regardless of their position in the company,” says Walker.

The advent of a configured-to-order line is further proof of the company’s commitment to continuous improvement, he continues. Offering pre-engineered solutions will enable Grotnes to “focus on a standard design and continue to refine it for our customers’ needs and bring additional value by bringing costs down and benefits up,” he explains.

Company officials are well aware that excellent equipment requires servicing and upkeep. As such, the team kicked off a preventative maintenance initiative called the Grotnes Service & Spares Club last year. Customers who join the club receive discounts on spare parts, labor, training, phone and remote support, and other maintenance measures. The overall aim is to keep client equipment in excellent condition.

At the time we last spoke, the company maintained sales and service branches in Monterrey, Mexico and Atlanta, Georgia. While the Mexican branch is still flourishing, the Atlanta operations have been relocated to Niles. This transition has drastically reduced turnaround times for some products; solutions that might have taken a month to produce and ship in Atlanta now take maybe 48 hours, according to Walker. The company continues to ship products around the world and works with European sales partners as well.

Grotnes also runs a facility called Formitt Metal Labs as well as an in-house machine shop. Formitt Labs does prototyping and feasibility testing for customers as well as research and development. Recent equipment purchases for the machine shop, meanwhile, include a lathe and a wire electric discharge machine. The company’s five-year growth strategy includes the possibility of offering machine shop services as a separate business component for customers, a strategy that would build on already existing competencies. “We have customers who are not interested in a capital purchase and just ask us to do the production for them,” notes Zielinski.

In terms of promotion, Grotnes regularly attends trade shows. Last year, the company took part in FABTECH USA in Chicago—the top conference for fabricating, finishing, welding, and metal forming in North America, as well as Fabtech Mexico in Monterrey, Mexico. It also showcased its metal forming skills at the 40^th Space Symposium, a major aerospace event which took place in Colorado Springs, Colorado in April 2025. The company has revamped its website as well, with a view to adding updates regarding its configured-to-order (CTO) offerings.

All told, roughly 43 people work at Grotnes. Beyond the requisite education levels and skills, the company seeks applicants who can think on their feet and offer creative solutions. Personnel must be prepared to pivot in the face of challenges, think outside the box, and adapt to changing circumstances since “ours is a pretty fast-paced technology business,” says Zielinski.

Current challenges include dealing with the rising cost of materials, due in part to tariffs imposed by the United States and other nations. That said, “The biggest challenge for us continues to be the ability to hire the right people, and secondary to that, finding them. Every position in our company is really a skilled position,” states Walker.

To address this issue, the company instituted a four-year apprenticeship program which blends hands-on training with classroom learning. Apprentices attend evening classes at Lake Michigan College, which is based in Benton Harbour, Michigan and has a campus in Niles. The program just graduated its first apprentice, who specialized as an electrical technician, and apprenticeships are also available for machine builders and machinists. There are ongoing discussions about expanding the program to include engineering.

For a near-term forecast, Walker circles back to CTOs and AI. “Completing our journey on the CTOs is really critical to us,” he shares. “It’s not something that’s going to happen overnight; it’s not something that’s quick, because it’s got to be right.”

As for artificial intelligence, “We’ve come up with some pretty interesting initiatives,” he says. “Three years from now, I think we’ll [have a lot] to talk about… We believe it’s going to help us tremendously.”

The post Making the Machines that Run Industry<p class="company">Grotnes</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Some 29,052 residents live in the county, which encompasses roughly 500 square miles on the west side of the state alongside Lake Michigan. The City of Ludington is the county seat and, with a little over 7,600 people, it is also the largest community in the area. Median household income here was $64,748 in 2024 dollars, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Mason County features strong manufacturing, tourism, and educational sectors alongside a buoyant entrepreneurial spirit spurred by local competitions. The foremost industries in Mason County are manufacturing, which accounts for 19.6 percent of jobs, according to a regional economic profile; government, accounting for 15.3 percent of jobs; retail trade with 14.3 percent of jobs; health care and social assistance with 10.8 percent of jobs; and accommodation and food services with 10.0 percent of jobs.

The county is highly receptive to new business. “We are open to conversations with companies that would like to invest here, especially companies that can bring high-paying jobs for residents and can help increase our tax base,” says Lucas-Zimmerman.

County officials also work hard at developing local business talent. The alliance hosts an annual event in Ludington called the Momentum 5×5 Business Pitch Competition. During this competition, five aspiring entrepreneurs have five minutes each to pitch a business idea to a panel of four judges. The panel picks the entrepreneur they deem the worthiest, with a live audience acting as a fifth judge in the case of a tie vote. Winners receive $5,000 in this competition, which can be described as Mason County’s version of the popular television program Shark Tank.

Rizzo’s Bread, a sandwich, bread, pizza, and pasta outlet, won the most recent Momentum 5×5 Business Pitch Competition. In addition to the prize money, winners also earn an automatic top-10 spot in the Momentum Business Plan Competition, an even bigger contest. In the latter event, local entrepreneurs compete for the chance to win up to $50,000 in seed money and business supports for their company. Last year’s winner was a floral business called the Roots Peony Farm, and previous winners include the Starving Artist Brewery Company, a barn-based brewery, and the KandyLand Dairy & Creamery, an owner-operated dairy operation.

The alliance administers the Momentum Business Plan Competition with funding coming from various organizations including Pennies from Heaven, a private family foundation that provides funding for community and philanthropic ventures in Mason County.

Fun as they are, such events serve a serious purpose, which is to enhance the economic viability of Mason County-based companies. This, in turn, is a major part of the chamber alliance’s mission. “We are here to support entrepreneurs, from that early business planning phase to finding them seed money,” says Brandy Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Chamber Alliance of Mason County.

The alliance has also proven extremely adept at forming partnerships that benefit all parties involved. “One of the things that surprises people is the cross-sector partnerships and alignments that we have,” notes Miller.

Among other partners, the alliance works closely with the Right Place, a regional economic development organization based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Founded in 1985, and representing multiple counties, the Right Place aims to boost West Michigan businesses and communities by offering resources, research, and connections to its members and spotlighting state and local business incentives.

Partnering with the Right Place has enabled alliance staff to boost Mason County’s presence and forge ties with companies associated with the group. “We wouldn’t have nearly as many connections if we weren’t plugged in to this really important network in Michigan and the Midwest,” notes Lucas-Zimmerman.

Mason County’s knack for forming strategic partnerships “is definitely something that sets us apart, and I think it’s why we tend to be a leader in our region, because we have greater alignment and true collaboration. It’s not just on paper; we’re all sitting in the same rooms at the same tables. We’re aware of the big pictures—the strategic plans that each of our organizations has and where there are opportunities,” adds Miller.

The county puts a great deal of resources into its educational sector. It has a strong K-12 public school system and is the home of West Shore Community College. Open since 1967, the college offers a wide array of degrees and certificates in everything from computer support to corrections, business administration, emergency medical services, robotics, and neuro-diagnostic technology.

In addition to these courses, West Shore College houses the Summit Tech Center, a career and technical education (CTE) hub. The center is run under the auspices of the West Shore Educational Service District in conjunction with the college. Students at the center can avail themselves of a variety of CTE programs such as culinary arts, automotive technology, welding, agricultural science, and digital media.

Kids in the county also benefit from a savings account program called KickStart to Career (K2C). Under K2C, savings accounts are opened for kindergarten students in county schools to pay for college or career training down the road. KickStart to Career is sponsored by county community groups, financial institutions, and school systems. About 2,000 students from kindergarten to grade six currently have savings accounts thanks to the program.

The Mason County Promise, another educational initiative, covers the cost of tuition and fees at West Shore Community College for qualifying high school and homeschool graduates and recipients of a high school equivalency diploma. And over a quarter of all residents aged 25 years and up have at least a bachelor’s degree, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Blessed with an outstanding location on the coast of Lake Michigan, Mason County is a popular attraction for tourists and seasonal visitors. In addition to offering miles of shoreline, much of it publicly accessible, the county features historic lighthouses, a maritime museum, and a cross-lake boat link to Wisconsin. “We have a very strong tourism industry here. A lot of people, for generations, have vacationed here,” notes Miller.

Ironically, Mason County’s very success in luring visitors is driving a severe housing shortage, arguably the biggest challenge currently facing the community. “There’s a housing crisis, not just in Mason County, not just in Michigan, but across the United States,” says Lucas-Zimmerman. “Our housing crisis is exacerbated by the fact that we’re a tourist destination. Case in point, in Michigan, about six percent of the existing housing stock is vacation or seasonal homes; in Mason County, about 24 percent of our housing stock is seasonal or vacation homes.”

While delighted to host tourists and visitors, the county wants to “make sure we have housing for the people who live here year-round,” she adds.

In 2023, the county authorized a comprehensive study to garner data about the housing crunch. An ensuing housing needs assessment report determined that Mason County faced a shortage of both for-sale and rental housing. More specifically, the county needed 1,566 for-sale units and 864 rental units in total.

To address this shortfall, a new group called the Mason County Housing Alliance was formed. Made up of representatives from municipal agencies, non-profit groups and philanthropic organizations, the alliance mulled over potential solutions to the housing crisis. Out of these deliberations, a five-year strategy for housing was born.

The plan features five goals including creating 1,000 new units of housing by 2030 and repairing 250 existing but aging housing units, since half of all affordable homes valued at $200,000 or less in the county are over 50 years old, according to the housing assessment. The third goal concerns affordable housing. “We really need housing at all price points to meet our needs,” Lucas-Zimmerman explains. The current median value of owner-occupied housing units in Mason County was $219,600, according to the United States Census Bureau.

Goal number four entails creating three new neighborhoods that encompass mixed income and mixed housing, with a focus on livability. “We wanted to create a sense of community for our housing efforts and make sure that people at all income levels have an opportunity to live in a walkable neighborhood, close to amenities,” states Lucas-Zimmernan.

The final goal centers on housing policies and zoning. The housing alliance wants to ensure the creation of a wide range of housing types, from single-family homes to duplexes, triplexes, and row housing.

All these goals, especially the first one, will be tough to meet, but Mason County is up to the challenge. “We wanted to set something pretty ambitious so we could focus our efforts and focus the community around it,” says Lucas-Zimmernan. Thankfully, ambitious benchmarks are nothing new for a county determined to continue punching above its weight.

The post A Midwest County Proud to “Punch Above Its Weight”<p class="company">Mason County, Michigan </p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Ironically, this new spike in home security investment is coinciding with an era where property crime is on the decline. “Break and enters were less common [in Canada and the United States] than they were 25 years earlier,” states Statistics Canada’s Trends in Police-Reported Crime in Canada and the United States, from October 8, 2025.

In 1998, there were 4,158 incidents of property crime in Canada per 100,000 people and 4,052 incidents per 100,000 people in the United States. By 2023, that had dropped to 1,995 incidents per 100,000 people in Canada and 1,906 incidents per 100,000 people in the U.S., states Statistics Canada. Such data is cold comfort, however, in an era of high-profile media accounts sharing brazen car thefts, residential break-ins, and retail robberies caught on video. And, as the title of the Statistics Canada analysis suggests, not all crime involving private homes gets reported.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of home security measures available to property owners, some of which have surprisingly long histories.

Centuries ago, domestic and wild animals alike were commonly used to guard home and hearth. Dogs, pigs, and geese, a notoriously noisy species, were all employed in this fashion. Today, outside of farm country at least, only dogs retain an important role in protecting homes.

The 1850s marked the introduction of electromagnetic burglar alarms. Augustus Russell Pope of New England is credited with developing a solution involving metal contacts on windows and doors connected to copper wires running on an electromagnetic circuit. If the circuit was disrupted by someone trying to open a window or door, a bell started clanging.

Pope sold the rights to his alarm system, and eventually a commercialized version became available. By the turn of the 20^th century, a handful of homes, businesses, and buildings were fitted with burglar alarms. Sometimes, these alarms were connected to police stations to ensure a speedy response from law enforcement.

Early burglar alarms only offered an audio component. They might scare off a burglar but did not provide any images that would be helpful in tracking down criminals. This changed with the arrival of Closed-Circuit Television in the 1940s. In a CCTV setup, footage from a surveillance camera is displayed on a monitor. It was a major step forward for security, but not ideal. Early CCTV systems did not record the footage, so unless someone sat and actively watched the monitor at all hours, they weren’t much use as a security system.

In the 1950s, the advent of videotape recorders meant that CCTV camera footage could be saved and stored, initially on reel-to-reel tapes and later on video tapes. By the 1970s, CCTV systems with videotape recorders had become ubiquitous in banks, businesses, and other buildings. In April 1974, a CCTV camera in a San Francisco bank famously recorded black and white footage of kidnap victim Patty Hearst brandishing a rifle during a holdup. Whether through coercion or conviction, Hearst had joined the self-styled revolutionaries who abducted her and participated in their crimes.

Still, CCTV systems were pricey and out of reach for homeowners except for the very wealthy. In the mid-1960s, an African American nurse named Marie Van Brittan Brown came up with a way to modify and simplify cumbersome CCTV technology for home use. Brown and her husband, Albert, an electronics technician, lived in the borough of Queens in New York City. They both worked erratic shifts and worried about rising crime rates. Together with her husband, Brown developed a unique security solution for the front door of a house.

The solution involved “four peepholes” through which “a motorized video camera on the inside could view visitors of different heights as the occupant toggled the camera up and down. The camera was connected to a television monitor inside. A microphone on the outside of the door and a speaker allowed an occupant to interrogate a visitor, while an alarm could alert police via radio,” states A Brief History of the Invention of the Home Security Alarm in the March 2021 edition of Smithsonian magazine.

The Browns filed a patent for their system in 1966, which gained approval in 1969. While hailed as the pioneers of the home video security system, Brown never reaped much financial reward for her invention, which was expensive to install. She died before technological advancements made home video security systems a realistic option for homeowners.

These advances included the advent of digital recording. Surveillance footage could now be saved on hard drives with massive memory, eliminating the need for bulky video tapes with limited recording time. Cameras became smaller, which led to the emergence of surveillance cameras specifically designed for use at home. “Nanny cams,” discreet digital cameras that could monitor babies, kids, and assets inside homes, were introduced in the early 1990s.

Another technological leap occurred in 2014, when entrepreneur Jamie Siminoff introduced his doorbell camera system. Originally called DoorBot, this solution blended a doorbell with a surveillance camera element capable of capturing footage of visitors on the doorstep. The product was renamed the Ring Video Doorbell, and Siminoff sold his company to Amazon.

The Ring Video Doorbell was inexpensive and available in retail channels, making it a popular choice for homeowners. And today, there are many competing options for doorbell cameras available for security-conscious property owners.

From the original model, new features kept being added to the Ring Video Doorbell. A Night Vision solution enhanced surveillance footage shot under dark conditions. A Live View feature enabled users to communicate with anyone on their doorstep via a smart phone or other device. Motion detection features were tweaked, improving the system’s ability to pick up unexpected presences and send alerts to homeowners.

Dashboard or car cameras have become another popular security measure. Such cameras are typically installed inside a vehicle, facing forward to capture footage through the windshield. While the concept is not new—police departments have used dashboard cameras for decades—car cameras have enjoyed a surge in popularity. This is partly due to seemingly endless online posts from users depicting amusing or alarming incidents they filmed while driving.

Entertainment value aside, dashboard or car cameras provide an additional and accessible layer of security for the public. Footage recorded by car cameras is commonly used to settle insurance claims in the case of accidents or mishaps.

Beyond cameras and alarms, bollards are emerging as a reliable means of preventing car theft. A bollard is simply a post, about three or four feet tall, made from cast iron, stainless steel, concrete, or other materials. Bollards have been a common feature at wharfs for centuries, used by ship crews to tie up mooring lines. At some point, bollards became incorporated into traffic infrastructure, blocking or guiding vehicles, defining and protecting walkway perimeters, and more recently, delineating bike lanes.

Permanently secured bollards have started to appear in front of retail outlets selling high-end goods as a precaution against ram raiding. This term refers to a smash and grab attack in which criminals slam a vehicle into a retail outlet that features a secured, locked door. The idea is to shatter the storefront glass, enabling easy entry for robbers. Bollards can stop a vehicle before any glass is hit.

In a similar fashion, some homeowners have taken to installing bollards on their driveways to secure their cars. Since permanent posts would not be practical on a driveway, homeowners rely on retractable bollards to protect their parked vehicles.

Ranging in price from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, bollards have become a common sight in wealthy neighbourhoods of Toronto, where car theft is rampant. When a homeowner wants to enter their driveway, the bollards are lowered automatically via a sensor or remote control, or manually with a key. Once the driver parks, the bollards are raised, making it impossible for car thieves to exit with the vehicle. Since they are featured on driveways, homeowners in Toronto at least do not require permits or special bureaucratic permission to install bollards.

As residential security continues to evolve, artificial intelligence is likely to play a growing role, helping systems analyze potential threats, identify unusual activity, and alert homeowners with greater precision. These tools may increasingly draw on broader data sets, from neighborhood crime patterns to real-time video analysis, further extending the reach of modern home protection.

From guard animals and early alarm bells to digital cameras, doorbell systems, and driveway bollards, the history of home security reflects a constant effort to adapt technology to everyday fears. While crime statistics may ebb and flow, the desire to protect one’s home remains unchanged, driving innovation that blends peace of mind with practical defense.

The post From Watchdogs to Smart Bollards<p class="company">The Evolution of Home Security</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“At the end of the day, we’re a community that embraces manufacturing; we have a lot of manufacturing assets. It’s kind of in our DNA,” says Jeff Shaw, President and CEO of the Pueblo Economic Development Corporation (PEDCO). Pueblo County workers have experience in “automation, welding, machining, large fabrication, steel, carbon fiber, and a lot of disciplines attached [to these services],” he adds.

With a median age of 39.8 years, Pueblo County has a population of just under 170,000 people. Its biggest city is also called Pueblo and accounts for 106,000 residents, while smaller communities include Colorado City and Avondale. Median household income is $54,340, and leading employment sectors include aerospace and defense, construction manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, food and beverage, outdoor recreation, and agriculture.

A longstanding commitment to economic development
PEDCO is a private, nonprofit group that works hard to highlight the benefits of doing business in Pueblo County. The organization was founded in 1981 after a crash in the steel industry rocked the region and county officials sought new avenues for economic renewal. In 1984, Pueblo County citizens agreed to pay a half-cent sales tax on non-exempt items, with revenue going toward a capital development fund used to entice new businesses. The fund generates $10 to 12 million on an annual basis and is disbursed in the form of grants or loans to companies looking to relocate, expand, or set up operations in Pueblo County. This funding can only be used for capital development purposes (for example, acquiring land, buildings, or equipment).

While PEDCO makes recommendations on funding recipients, Pueblo County government officials oversee the actual disbursement, and firms that want to receive capital development funding are expected to create a certain number of positions based on their size and output. “There’s an obligation to pay some money back if you don’t have the jobs you promised the community; if you have the jobs, you don’t have to pay anything back. [In such cases] we don’t want the money back—we want the jobs,” says Shaw.

Full-time jobs, he adds, have “a multiplier effect” on the economy, with benefits extending well beyond the original investment.

Every five years, voters get to choose whether to renew the half-cent sales tax and capital development fund. The sales tax was reapproved last fall, not a surprise given how effective the development fund has been in bringing in business. In August 2025, for example, Trussworks Operations, LLC, a wood and floor truss manufacturer, announced that it chose Pueblo County for its newest facility and Trussworks received capital development money in return for a new jobs guarantee. Once it reaches full capacity, Trussworks’ plant is expected to employ 65 full-time staff.

Location, infrastructure, and water
Of course, there are plenty of other reasons why companies might want to set up in Pueblo County. The county offers excellent workforce training programs, for a start, and is also blessed with great weather, abundant water, and an enviable location.

Pueblo County is spread across roughly 2,400 square miles within a centrally located state. Several major markets, including Salt Lake City, Albuquerque, Dallas, and Houston, are within easy reach of county businesses. Transportation infrastructure is a particular strength, with the county served by Interstate 25 (for north/south road travel), U.S. Route 50 (for east/west travel), and Pueblo Memorial Airport. The county is also frequented by Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway and is the only southern Colorado county to offer east, west, north, and south rail access. “One of the true secrets of Pueblo is our rail infrastructure,” Shaw notes. “We’ve embraced rail, we love rail.”

Water availability is another significant differentiator, especially as many western regions face increasing scarcity. Pueblo County can accommodate large manufacturers requiring “two to four million gallons a day” and could “triple our population without running into water issues,” according to Shaw—an increasingly rare advantage in the American West.

Workforce, education, and veterans
Pueblo County’s workforce is bolstered by strong educational institutions and a high concentration of military veterans. The county is home to two school districts and two post-secondary institutions: Pueblo Community College and Colorado State University – Pueblo.

Pueblo Community College has earned a strong reputation for customized workforce training, a legacy that dates back to the 1980s when the school helped retrain laid-off steel workers. Today, the college remains “very, very good at customized training programs,” Shaw says, whether teaching welding skills or training workers to meet specialized international manufacturing standards.

CSU Pueblo complements this pipeline with degree programs in engineering, business, nursing, computer science, construction management, and cybersecurity.

Veterans further enhance the local labor pool. Pueblo is known as “The Home of Heroes,” having produced four recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor. At a 1953 ceremony, President Dwight Eisenhower famously remarked about “something in the water out there in Pueblo.” Shaw says veterans bring discipline, leadership, and a strong work ethic, while also contributing to a shared sense of civic pride.

Quality of life
For visitors and residents alike, nearly continuous sunshine and warm temperatures are major draws. Pueblo County typically receives over 300 days of sunshine a year, with an average daily summer temperature of 91°F and average daily winter temperature of 47°F (well above freezing). The overall average temperature works out to just under 70°F.

“Pueblo is unique because we’re just off the mountains by 20 miles or so,” Shaw says. “Even in January or February, you can play golf on a Saturday afternoon and go skiing on a Sunday.”

Mountain biking, golf, hiking, fly fishing, rafting, and rock climbing are also hugely popular outdoor activities, and Lake Pueblo State Park is a popular spot for boating, picnicking, fishing, and swimming. Pueblo also plays host to the annual Colorado State Fair and a local event called the Pueblo Chile & Frijoles Festival. The latter event draws huge crowds and reflects the region’s agricultural heritage; in addition to being a manufacturing epicenter, Pueblo County is renowned for its melons, beans, potatoes, and chili peppers.

The area’s affordability only adds to its appeal. The county’s median home price is $364,950, and it scores 92 on a national cost-of-living index where 100 represents the U.S. average. By comparison, Colorado Springs scores 100 and Denver 108, making Pueblo County a comparatively accessible place to live and work.

History, promotion, and present-day challenges
The history of Pueblo County dates back thousands of years. The area was home to the Ute or Nuche peoples, then was annexed by Spain in the late 1500s. Spanish rule ended when Mexico became independent in the 1820s. The area came under U.S. control following the 1848 Mexican-American War and was then flooded with prospectors during the subsequent Colorado Gold Rush. Statehood was conferred on Colorado in 1876, and Pueblo County joined the USA.

Today, PEDCO continues to promote the county through trade shows, digital outreach, partnerships, and word of mouth. Recently, the organization formed a loose collaboration with the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation to pursue initiatives benefiting the broader Front Range region.

For all its present-day advantages, Pueblo County does face its share of challenges. Manufacturers in the county are concerned about federal interest rates impacting their bottom lines and influencing hiring decisions. Federal politics can also impact the county’s fortunes; until recently, Pueblo featured a great deal of manufacturing activity based around renewable energy, but shifts in federal energy policy have slowed this activity.

A measured vision for the future
Even so, Pueblo County remains, in Shaw’s view, an excellent place to live and do business. “It’s such a quality place to raise a family. There are a lot of great sports, whether it’s baseball, basketball, golf, or football. Even though it’s not small anymore, it’s got that small-town feel to it. You can get anywhere in Pueblo by car in 15 minutes—you’re not going to run into traffic. It’s just a great place to grow up,” he shares.

Going forward, Pueblo officials hope to preside over steady and sustainable growth, not expansion for its own sake. Based on water availability and infrastructure capacity, Shaw estimates that Pueblo County can support between 250,000 and 300,000 people without sacrificing quality of life or impacting the county’s enviable ambiance.

In five years, he hopes to see a community that has strengthened its primary job base while preserving the character that makes Pueblo County distinctive. “We don’t want to lose that character of Pueblo,” Shaw says. For a county defined by its manufacturing heritage, natural advantages, and strong sense of place, the goal is clear: grow thoughtfully, stay grounded, and ensure that economic progress continues to benefit both businesses and the people who call Pueblo County home.

The post A Sun-Splashed Community with a Pro-Business Mindset<p class="company">Pueblo County, Colorado</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Terradyne Armored Vehicles was originally launched in 2011 as a segment of Canadian auto parts giant Magna International. The company, which focused on armored vehicle production from the beginning, was spun off as a standalone entity in 2014, and last year marked its eleventh anniversary as an independent business.

Terradyne offers four main models under its Gurkha line, named after the famously tough soldiers from Nepal who have fought for Great Britain since the 19^th century. These models consist of a light armored patrol vehicle (Gurkha LAPV) which weighs 16,000 pounds (7,258 kilograms) and measures 6,116.9 mm x 2,454.2 mm x 2,645.6 mm; a rapid patrol vehicle (Gurkha RPV) weighing 15,500 pounds (7,031 kilograms) and measuring 6,207.5 mm x 2,454.2 mm x 2,499.2 mm; and a multi-purpose vehicle (Terradyne MPV) weighing 16,500 pounds (7,484 kilograms) and measuring 6,356.8 mm x 2,454.2 mm x 2,633.9 mm.

The company’s fourth model is a civilian limited-edition vehicle (Gurkha CIV) that weighs up to 13,500 pounds (6,123 kilograms) and is 6,207.5 mm long x 2,454.2 mm wide x 2,499.2 mm high.

The biggest change at the company since we last spoke in August 2024 has been the release of “a new variant of an existing model,” shares Sales Manager Lucus Witzke. The new variant represents “a first for Terradyne—an armored vehicle for law enforcement specific to EOD, which stands for Explosive Ordnance Disposal,” he explains.

The MPV FORT (Forward Ordnance Response Team) EOD recently made for the City of Tampa, Florida was a variation of the MPV for law enforcement, and will be used by a police bomb squad, Witzke says. The purchase was part of a two-vehicle deal, with the other being a standard law enforcement model. “We have delivered it and are now marketing it to other law enforcement agencies,” he says.

In addition to the FORT EOD, Terradyne has also tweaked another model to create a tactical emergency medical services (TEMS) vehicle which is “basically an armored ambulance,” Witzke says. The TEMS vehicle is also being marketed to law enforcement clients.

These models are built on Ford F-550 Super Duty truck frames and are fitted with a 10-speed automatic transmission, 4×4 shift on the fly, and V8 turbo diesel engines. “We use the Ford F-550 chassis for all Gurkha models, so we are limited to what direction Ford goes in. From what I’ve heard… for the Super Duty lineup, there are no electric or hybrid engines in the forecast,” Witzke says. Fuel capacity for all four models is 40 gallons (151 litres), and each model is equipped with a four-wheel vented disc anti-lock braking system.

All models save the CIV feature armor plating (with the armoring available as an option on the civilian model as well). The CIV is the only Terradyne vehicle that is available to the public at present. This is a brawny, dark machine that would definitely make an impression on city streets.

Witzke cites the materials that go into the company’s vehicles and its customer support as Terradyne’s points of difference in the market. Technical specifications state that armor plating on the LAPV, MPV, and RPV warrants a B7/STANAG 2 rating, a military standard set by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). And Gurkha vehicles are subjected to intensive third-party testing involving live ammunition and explosive blasts.

Terradyne does not claim its vehicles are completely bullet- and bomb-proof, but simply well-protected against such threats. Plating on the LAPV, MPV, and RPV is fairly light as far as armor goes, and in addition to being well-fortified, Gurkha vehicles are relatively quick, which is an important factor when conducting police raids or rescuing wounded soldiers under fire. The wheels on Gurkha vehicles feature special inserts that keep the tires in workable condition even after they have been punctured by bullets or shrapnel, while the windshield glass is also tough and resilient in the face of gunfire.

In addition to producing top-of-the-line machines, Terradyne works hard to serve its clients. The company maintains a steady supply of spare parts and tires and can manufacture replacement components upon request. It is receptive to customer feedback and can customize its basic product line, as evidenced by the FORT EOD vehicle. “Something we’ve learned over the years is our customer service apparently is next-level compared to our competitors, so that has given us an advantage,” notes Witzke.

Design and manufacturing duties are handled in-house, with Terradyne employing roughly 50 people and producing around 100 vehicles each year. Each armored car takes between 20 and 24 weeks to complete—which seems a long time until you consider the standards each vehicle needs to meet. Not every truck on the road is designed to withstand a barrage of bullets or a grenade attack.

Gurkha vehicles are sold either through dealers or direct to customers, and the company’s most popular vehicle varies from year to year. For 2025, the MPV proved to be the most in-demand model, says Witzke.

Certainly, Terradyne takes pride in all its high-quality vehicles and holds both ISO 9000 and 14000 certification. It is also registered with the Controlled Goods Program, an initiative run by the Canadian government. Thanks to this registration, Terradyne is authorized to export its military-style vehicles.

Back in Canada, Terradyne is among a handful of qualified potential suppliers for a Canadian Armed Forces light utility vehicle (LUV) replacement initiative. Ottawa intends to spend up to $1 billion on a new “protected, lightweight, multi-role, and highly-mobile ground wheeled vehicle,” states the website of the Canadian Defence Review, a military journal.

Between 2,000 and 2,200 replacement vehicles are needed in total, “with up to four variants: command and reconnaissance vehicle; utility vehicle; military police vehicle; and cable-laying vehicle,” says the journal. The program also involves “ancillary equipment, integrated logistics support (ILS), and an in-service support solution.”

To be sure, Terradyne has a good shot at winning work with the LUV program, due in part to the amount of Canadian content that goes into its Gurkha line, says Witzke.

The company is also excited to be participating in the World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in early 2026. This will be the first time Terradyne has attended this event. “There are a lot of Terradyne vehicles operating in the Middle East as of today,” Witzke says. “Other opportunities might be there. Our end-goal is to expand our presence from what we already have there.”

When it comes to promotion, the company relies heavily on trade shows to highlight its products. “We’re very particular,” says Witzke. “We do some print advertising with law enforcement in the U.S. and Canada, but a lot of [our promotional efforts] are trade shows. We find it’s a lot more effective to physically get a vehicle in front of somebody, as opposed to sending pictures.”

As for challenges, he cites tariffs and “increased prices in the supply chains.” The most consistent challenge, however, is simply the nature of the armored car business. “The sales cycle is very long; it’s a big-ticket item. There are a lot of hurdles that need to be overcome in that process.”

Going forward, Terradyne wants to stay in Newmarket and produce more armored cars from its core lineup in addition to interesting variants, such as the FORT EOD and TEMS vehicles. Witzke anticipates “further expansion of our footprint in key areas: Canada, the United States, Europe, and the Middle East,” while the company continues to hone its expertise.

In the early days, “we were the new kids on the block that nobody had ever heard of,” he says, adding that the client base “is a very tight-knit group, especially in law enforcement. They talk with each other and share reviews of what equipment is good. It takes a very long time to develop a reputation.” Terradyne Armored Vehicles is well on its way.

The post Specialty Vehicles for Specialized Situations<p class="company">Terradyne Armored Vehicles</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Located northwest of Chicago, Illinois, the Village of Hanover Park has a population of 36,850 people. The community is part of a swath of land nicknamed “The Golden Corridor” thanks to the fast-paced growth happening within its borders. Since being profiled by Business in Focus in November 2016, Hanover Park has adopted a new tagline reflecting its widely diverse community. “America’s Global Village” remains as devoted as ever to mindful growth and meeting the needs of the community.

“Since 2016, we’ve not only continued with our business-friendly approach, but we’ve also opened our doors to development and businesses that are family-friendly and an asset to our community,” says Community and Economic Development Director Shubhra Govind.

Happy people, busy business
Just over six square miles in size, Hanover Park features seven school districts and four townships and is split between DuPage and Cook Counties. As befitting its new tagline, Village residents represent 80 nationalities who speak 30 different languages. To be as accommodating as possible, language translation services are available for residents and visitors who need to speak with Hanover Park officials.

On the economic front, the Village features three major business parks and three Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts (in a TIF district, some property tax gets reinvested in the area). Altogether, Hanover Park features roughly five million square feet of Class A industrial space, and properties within TIF districts can apply for a Façade Improvement Grant that covers half the cost of spiffing up their exterior and property.

Hanover Park officials regularly touch base with business owners to get a sense of their plans and concerns, says Economic Development Coordinator Adela Boesel. “We meet them in their stores, we meet them in their restaurants, or we have a meeting in our office and ask, ‘What are the challenges that you’re dealing with? What is it you want to see in your business?’”

With such feedback in mind, recent economic development initiatives include a multi-million dollar streetscape improvement project, part of a broader effort to beautify a downtown space called the Village Center. The goal is to create a thriving center with high-density residential housing, a strong commercial presence, and a comprehensive transportation infrastructure. It helps that Village staff know how to be flexible, adjusting zoning when necessary to support economic and residential development and greater use of public transit.

All roads lead to a great labor pool
Asked why a business would want to set up in Hanover Park, Govind emphasizes, “location, location, location.”

Indeed, the Village is situated near several transportation hubs and routes. These include roadways such as Illinois Route 390 (previously the Elgin O’Hare Expressway), O’Hare International Airport, DuPage County Airport, Schaumburg Regional Airport, and two rail lines, the Chicago Central and Pacific Railroad and Soo Line Railroad. Hanover Park also maintains a busy commuter station for the Metra Milwaukee District/West Line passenger railway—an express train leaving this station can whisk people to downtown Chicago in 45 minutes.

“When it comes to a business making a decision to locate in Hanover Park, it’s not just about access to highways, roads, Metra, the bus, but also access to the great labor pool that we have here. When companies are looking to locate in Hanover Park, they know that they can hire locally,” adds Govind.

The area boasts a well-educated workforce, as nearly one quarter of Hanover Park residents hold a bachelor’s degree, while 10 percent have graduate degrees and 17 percent have some college education. As for the latter, the Village is home to three community colleges: College of DuPage, Harper Community College, and Elgin Community College. Unemployment is low at four percent, with manufacturing, health care/social assistance, and retail representing the three top occupation categories.

Leading employers in the Village include computer hardware firm Insight Enterprise Inc., with 285 employees, precision part manufacturer Camcraft, Inc., with 279 employees, and equipment firm Fisher Scientific, with 275 employees. The American branch of Japanese photo and image reproduction giant FUJIFILM maintains a regional headquarters in Hanover Park with 165 employees.

Mayor Craig points to Round Ground Metals (RGM) as a particularly noteworthy success story. Based in Hanover Park, this firm employs 140 people and specializes in the manufacture of precision steel rods used in oil wells and firearms, among other products. RGM “has grown from a small business to owning three major buildings in our industrial park,” says the Mayor.

Family-friendly
The question arises: job opportunities aside, why do individuals want to move to Hanover Park?

The Village is “a family-oriented community” that’s “blessed with excellent school districts,” says Mayor Craig, and it’s a safe place to raise kids. “People are happy with our low crime rate. I’ll challenge any other community to match our low crime rate.” He adds, “A quality police department helps.”

This isn’t just local boosterism either: Hanover Park earned a safety score of 98 out of 100 in a listing on Nextdoor.com. In 2022, the Village of Hanover Park had a violent crime rate of 0.35 offences per 1,000 residents and a property crime rate of 0.03 offences per 1,000 residents (compared with 18.56 per 1,000 residents and 18.23 per 1,000 residents, respectively, for the state of Illinois). The overall crime rate in Hanover Park in 2022 was 0.38 offences per 1,000 residents, drastically lower than the overall Illinois rate (36.79 per 1,000 residents) and national rate (33.37 per 1,000 residents).

The Village is not only safe but affordable, particularly when compared to the metropolis of Chicago. In 2023, the average median household income in Hanover Park was $92,263, the median property value was $260,900, and the average commuting time was just under half an hour.

As part of its family-friendly ethos, Hanover Park also offers ample recreational opportunities and community events. The Village counts nearly two dozen playgrounds and parks and boasts vast forest preserves, popular spots for hiking, picnicking, biking, horseback riding, boating, and bird watching. A sports complex hosts Little League games, and a plaza in the Village Center welcomes a variety of events. Residents enjoy Movies in the Park, Juneteenth celebrations, a Fire Department Open House, and a “Doggie Eggtravaganza (featuring a canine egg hunt with dog treats), and Boesel tells us that the Village partners with nonprofit groups, churches, and other organizations to ensure that most community events are either free or low-cost.

Keeping connected
Hanover Park is also a place where local government is transparent and accessible. Village officials make a point of being “very involved with our community. We want to understand what their needs are,” continues Boesel.

Mayor Craig is constantly about, meeting with legislators, administrators, businesspeople, members of the public, and schoolkids. Hanover Park staff also host community meetings with the public to discuss various issues. One such meeting was held in February of this year, while a second took place this May. “We want to know what you want to see in Hanover Park. We want the community to feel welcome,” says Boesel.

To keep the community informed and engaged, Hanover Park actively promotes its charms to prospective businesses and residents alike via social media, trade shows, and tourism events. The Village government issues regular press releases offering updates and information, and publishes a community magazine for residents. An economic development committee featuring representatives from local businesses and institutions brainstorms ideas to better the Village.

“As you can tell, we’re very proud of our community and the people that live in it,” says Boesel.

Mayor Craig agrees. “We have a great relationship with our neighboring communities. We support one another and work together. I really enjoy that collaborative component,” he says.

Looking ahead, the Mayor would like to see more “quality, transit-oriented development” in the Village.

While eager to enhance opportunities for businesses and residents alike, nobody wants the Village of Hanover Park to grow so large that it loses its essential character. “Our community definitely has heart,” Boesel says. “Anyone who comes to Hanover Park will see that right away. It’s a place where not only families but businesses feel welcome.”

The post America’s Global Village: Where You Want to Be<p class="company">Village of Hanover Park, Illinois</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

So that was how, in May of this year, Cloward H₂O personnel returned to Glenwood for Hot Springs Connection, the official conference of the Hot Springs Association. Between seminars, attendees took time to relax and enjoy the storied waters of the historic facility, which first opened in the 19th century.

“It was a unique opportunity for us to experience firsthand some of our creations,” says Dan Aldred, Associate Principal and engineer at Cloward H₂O. “We designed three distinct waterfalls, each offering a different sensory experience—and all three perform beautifully. One falls with a thundering roar, like you’re standing under Niagara. Another creates a very light, silky texture that feels good when you put your neck and hands in it. The third is a quiet trickle that slips gently down a wall—you barely feel it until you lean your back against the stone.”

Masters of aquatic engineering
Working closely with architects, developers, and designers, Cloward H₂O handles the engineering responsibility for pool structures and ancillary mechanical systems alike. The company’s services include conceptual design and planning, water treatment and circulation engineering, structural engineering, power distribution and controls, hydraulic analysis and modeling, aquatic life support design, and more.

Cloward H₂O works on swimming pools, waterparks, splash pads, whitewater rafting sites, fountains, aquariums, large lagoons—essentially all things recreational water. The company handled around 90 projects last year, primarily for the hospitality and resort markets, with around half of them outside the United States.

Since our previous profile, Cloward H₂O has opened a new satellite office in Colorado, expanded its workforce, enhanced its skills, and received recognition for its work. This summer, for example, Aquatics International magazine announced Montgomery Whitewater as a 2025 Dream Design. Cloward H₂O worked extensively on Montgomery Whitewater, which covers 120 acres in Alabama and features manmade channels for whitewater rafting and kayaking.

The facility’s whitewater course was “built to Olympic standards,” says a July 9, 2025, post on the Aquatics International website, which also praises Cloward H₂O’s engineering acumen. “The project was unique and presented a lot of really great engineering challenges. It was fun to overcome them and great to be recognized for that work,” says Associate Principal and Engineer Rob Cloward, son of company founder Greg Cloward and brother of current President/Principal Corry Cloward.

The latest and greatest
In terms of ongoing work, artificial lagoons are a burgeoning trend. These bodies of water can be compared to oversized swimming pools. “We have several of these in development right now,” says Cloward. “Instead of building a community around a golf course, a lot of developers are building these communities around a lagoon.”

These man-made bodies of water function like swimming pools on a grand scale—but with the size, beauty, and recreational variety of a natural lagoon. Continuous filtration and water-quality management keep conditions swimmer-safe. Some developers complement lagoons with retail stores, hotels, additional pools, and other amenities, adds Aldred.

Stainless steel and concrete remain the primary materials the company works with when engineering its water features for the construction teams, but Cloward H₂O also employs specialized liners for lagoon developments and granite or precision-cut stone for specialty pools and fountains, along with a variety of finishes including plaster, tile, and other safety coatings, with the team maintaining a keen focus on following developments in waterproofing materials and technologies. “There are a lot of great additives that they’re putting in concrete coatings, and they also have a lot of polymer coatings. We look at new technologies and construction materials regularly to see what might improve a project’s efficiency, integrity, and long-term value to the client,” notes Aldred.

In addition, water facilities are increasingly sporting sensors, elaborate lighting systems, wireless networks, and Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity. These systems can be used to adjust lights, water flow, and water temperature using an iPad or other computerized controls. Given these developments, clients are increasingly requesting “bigger and better effects—more waterfalls, water shooting up higher, water flowing in different directions,” says Project Manager and Engineer Zach Robinson.

It’s Cloward H₂O’s job to accommodate such demands whenever possible. At times, the company needs to remind customers about some basic principles: “The first rule is, we have to obey the laws of physics. As long as we can obey the laws of physics, let’s see what we can do,” says Robinson.

The possibilities are impressive as technology keeps advancing. Cloward H₂O is currently working on a project that involves “an articulating robot, basically an eyeball if you will, that will shoot water and be able to control the flow of water and move it around. Pair that with lights, you get really cool effects,” notes Robinson.

Behind the scenes, Cloward H2O continues to use 3D modeling software and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technology. The 3D software gives the team a better impression of what a proposed design will look like while CFD technology forecasts the flow of water and other fluids. Ironically, 3D software solutions generate so much data that Cloward H₂O has to carefully limit the information passed on to the client so as to keep them informed but not overwhelmed.

It all starts with the soil
Cloward H₂O matches these high-tech tools with common-sense guidance. Before anything gets built, the firm conducts a geotechnical survey to analyze the soil conditions at potential building sites.

“The structural engineer bases all their calculations upon these soil conditions,” Aldred explains. “I’m working on a project now—a fairly good-sized waterpark in Manila, Philippines—and the site had poor soil and high water tables. So, nearly the entire site was built on piles to provide the structural integrity for all the pool shells, slide towers, and buildings that will be placed on top of it.”

Modular construction, in which segments of a building are put together in factories, shipped to building sites, and then assembled, is gaining momentum throughout the world, but within the aquatic engineering world, these methods have been reliably used for decades with prefabricated fiberglass or stainless-steel pools. Large segments of a stainless-steel pool “can be shipped out and craned into place, and then piped up and installed within about three days,” says Robinson. Cloward H₂O is currently working on some swimming pool projects that also entail the use of prefabricated concrete.

Modular methods can drastically shorten construction times and provide contractors with more control over the building process. The downside is a lack of flexibility; wild shapes and unusual pool designs “are not applicable for the pre-cast world. But if you just want a basic square or rectangle, it might be a really good option for you,” says Aldred.

Part of something great
With engineering at the core of what Cloward H₂O does, new applicants must, of course, be technically proficient. But beyond that, “I like looking for soft skills,” says Cloward. “I want to see people with good, solid work ethics, who want to be part of creating something great, who show up on time and think the process through—who understand that what they do impacts other disciplines, and who understand how they fit into the bigger picture.”

Integrity, morals, and communication skills are also valued. If problems occur during a project, staff are expected to be upfront and honest with the client, even if the news is upsetting, adds Aldred.

This same dedication to integrity underlines Cloward’s participation in industry efforts to set NSF and ASTM standards for its sector. Established in 1944 as the National Sanitation Foundation, the NSF establishes safety, health, and design benchmarks for everything from food and beverages to waterparks and pools. ASTM International, meanwhile, is a renowned organization that has set approximately 13,000 quality standards in a variety of fields.

Promotion-wise, Cloward H₂O plans to display a new booth at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) conference in Florida this November.

“For about six years, we’ve used our old booth, but this year we’re excited to unveil an entirely new one,” says the Business Development Manager, Jacob Clawson. “The new booth features a screen showcasing videos of our projects—most of which can also be found on our YouTube channel—along with one exclusive video highlighting one of our most unique and technically complex projects to date. It’s exciting to finally share that at the event, along with the interactive whitewater model that was unveiled at last year’s show. Overall, it’s a bigger and better display of our work. But beyond the visuals, the main goal of IAAPA is to connect with our clients and partners, so we’ve designed the space to encourage collaboration and meaningful conversations.”

Solving problems nobody knew existed
Going forward, the company plans to stick to its core competencies while enhancing existing skills and augmenting its post-design construction support services. Including a post-design construction support phase in a project “gives the contractors and those on site the ability to ask questions about our design and to clarify and help solve problems that nobody knew existed. We like to call it the owner’s insurance policy on the design,” says Robinson.

Other company goals include becoming “a little smarter, a little wiser” and growing the staff, says Cloward.

“It would be great if we could open one or maybe two more satellite offices; it would help extend our reach around the globe a little better,” adds Aldred. “But we don’t want to grow too fast. Overall, another 10 to 20 percent on our staff would be wonderful.”

The post Pools, Waterparks, and Award-Winning Projects – Doing Wonderful Things with Water<p class="company">Cloward H2O</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

“Our reason for existence is to diversify this economy, create better career opportunities and earning potential, and make sure we’re doing that in an equitable way,” states Heath Vescovi-Chiordi, Director of Economic Development for Pima County.

There were 1.05 million people in Pima in 2023, according to Data USA, a 0.725 percent increase from the previous year. Residents are spread across 9,200 square miles, with a median age of 39.7 years old. In terms of geography, Pima is about a six-hour drive from San Diego, California, while the county’s southern portion abuts the border with Mexico. Pima County is blessed with good weather, enjoying more than 350 days of sun per year with an average daily temperature of 69 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pima County’s economy development initiatives, Vescovi-Chiordi tells us, fall under the categories of business attraction, business retention and expansion, infrastructure development, and workforce development. Business attraction is all about enticing new companies to the area, and to this end, Pima County economic development staff generate leads (using specialized software) and contact businesses directly. The county also aims to gain the attention of companies in other nations; Pima is “working directly with various states in Mexico to attract investment,” he says.

Pima personnel have visited Mexico, and the county has hosted Mexican trade delegations as well. Foreign investment might take the form of brick-and-mortar facilities or, alternatively, Mexican firms “could plug into supply chain or manufacturing opportunities” in Pima County, Vescovi-Chiordi notes.

As for business retention and expansion, county economic development representatives frequently check in with the owners of existing businesses to discuss their needs, challenges, and goals. When possible, the economic development office endeavors to connect business leaders with appropriate resources or contacts.

Infrastructure development centers on projects based on lands earmarked for economic development, while workforce development consists of “several different initiatives,” Vescovi-Chiordi explains. “One of them is the Pima Aviation Alliance, where we work with district schools to prepare individuals for careers in aviation and aerospace, because that’s one of our core industries in the region.”

The Pima Aviation Alliance is run in conjunction with Pima Community College (PCC) and other partners, with PCC offering an in-depth aviation technology program centered on aircraft repair and maintenance. The college is one of the leading educational institutions in Pima, along with Pima Medical Institute-Tucson and the University of Arizona (both of which are based in Tucson, the county’s largest city.) The University of Arizona conducts world-class astronomy and astrophysics research and accounted for the lion’s share of the 19,000-plus university degrees awarded in Pima in 2023. The Pima County Economic Development Strategy 2023–2026 estimates that over 33 percent of county residents aged 25 and up have a post-secondary degree.

County officials highlight local academic specialties as one way to attract new businesses. The University of Arizona’s Wyant College of Optical Sciences, for example, offers well-regarded optics and photonics programs. Such technologies can “support all of the other industries that we have in the area, like aviation and aerospace,” says Vescovi-Chiordi. The University of Arizona is also “a Hispanic-serving institution, which really helps bolster our opportunities and engagements with Mexico,” he adds.

He cites aerospace and defense, transportation, distribution, logistics, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, healthcare technology, biotech, and pharmaceuticals as industries Pima County would like to attract. Advanced manufacturing could include the production of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, he notes. The county is also keen on clean and renewable energy (solar power being a bit of a no-brainer considering Pima’s enviable status as an epicenter of sunshine) as well as agriculture and agricultural technology firms.

“We also dabble in some mining technology opportunities… There’s a very significant presence of mining in the region,” Vescovi-Chiordi adds.

Given Pima’s eco-friendly ethos, the county prefers to work with mining technology companies that emphasize sustainable practices, “so that we’re mitigating the negative impacts of what mining does to the Earth itself with remediation techniques and technologies.”

Land ownership represents another tool in the Pima County economic development toolkit. The county holds “several types of assets throughout the region that are dedicated to economic development. One of these are land assets that we leverage for large-scale economic development projects. I think at this point we’ve got an inventory of about 2,000 acres, give or take, of publicly owned land that we deploy for economic development purposes,” says Vescovi-Chiordi.

As noted, the Pima County Economic Development office doesn’t operate in isolation. “We work on a lot of different things within this department, but by no means do it on our own,” he says. “We work with the City of Tucson and their economic development department. We also have 30-plus departments within Pima County itself. We do a lot of internal coordination with regulatory departments—the Department of Environmental Quality, Regional Wastewater, Flood Control—these types of things. We also work with other departments that are involved in things we do like community and workforce development.”

Pima County economic development representatives have also accompanied the Arizona Commerce Authority, a statewide pro-business organization, on trade missions abroad. “We went with them to Taiwan last year to [investigate] semiconductor and packaging opportunities, and we’re going to be doing that again this year. As mentioned, we’ve gone to Mexico several times on different missions and have had delegations from Mexico come here as well. So, we’re hitting it on all cylinders.”

Businesses considering setting up in Pima County have plenty of spaces to choose from at sites such as the Aerospace Research Campus, Kino Sports Complex, and the Southeast Employment and Logistics Center, to name a few. Details about these properties can be found on the Pima County Economic Development website, which also lists incentives the county can offer companies, from workforce training to assistance with zoning, planning, permitting, and financing.

As to why an individual or family might want to move to Pima, Vescovi-Chiordi cites jobs and quality of life. The county’s vibrant economy is “very attractive. Having the University of Arizona here is also an attractive asset, because of their investment in the community and the research they do,” he says.

According to Data USA, the Health Care/Social Assistance, Retail, and Education sectors respectively employ the most people in the county. The most common job categories are (in order of prevalence), Office and Administrative Support, Management, and Sales, and the median household income in Pima County was $67,929 in 2023 (a big 5.61 percent leap from 2022).

Other draws include a strong K-12 public school system with “very robust CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs,” says Vescovi-Chiordi.

Pima County also boasts outdoor activities galore, including hiking, biking, camping, and bird watching. Pima features more than 400 bird species, many of them hard to find elsewhere in the U.S. The area abounds in parks and preserves that showcase the county’s natural beauty, as well as Mount Lemmon, a 9,185-foot peak. Given this, it’s no surprise that tourism is a major industry in Pima.

On top of this, the county offers a high quality of life at affordable prices. The median property value in Pima County in 2023 was $286,900, according to Data USA figures, lower than the national average of over $300,000. And the average commuting time in the county is under half an hour.

While warm and sunny, Pima is largely free from dangerous weather extremes. “We get some pretty significant rains through the end of June into August, which replenishes our water table… We have the occasional dust storm—the haboobs that we’re known for—but those are far and few between. It’s a very, very nice climate down here,” says Vescovi-Chiordi.

For history buffs, Pima County is believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the United States—Indigenous communities have had a presence in Pima for thousands of years. A Catholic mission was founded in the county in 1697 and remains in use today. Pima County was part of Mexico until the mid-19^th century when it came under U.S. authority, and gold and silver prospecting once thrived in the area, which today features the huge Tohono O’odham Nation reservation, one of the largest holdings of Indigenous lands in America.

As for the future, county officials are currently developing a new strategic plan to address questions about service delivery amid population growth and other topics. For his part, Vescovi-Chiordi is excited about the positive impact his office and other county and state bodies are having on economic growth in Pima.

“I think the main takeaway is that we really want to create upward economic mobility for people in this region,” he says, by attracting firms that set up “diverse types of jobs—all the way from entry-level to CEO-level.”

The post A Sun-Drenched Community Looks Ahead<p class="company">Pima County, Arizona</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Allegany County counted 47,027 residents in the 2023 census, with a median age of 38.9 years and median household income of $61,233 in 2023 (a leap from the previous year, when median household income stood at $58,725), according to Data USA.

During the pandemic, air travel was curtailed, festivals and other big gatherings were cancelled, and people were encouraged to socially distance from each other. For anyone seeking a vacation or respite, the outdoor ambiance of Allegany County proved to be a huge draw. There are no major cities in Allegany County but plenty of hills, valleys, waterways, walkable communities, and recreational opportunities.

“We have launch sites for kayaks and canoes along the Genesee River, plus public fishing spots all over the county. There’s a place where you can take your ATV and ride for miles, snowmobile trails that go on forever, and parks and state forests where you can even ride horseback. We have a ski resort, and—probably my favorite part—we still have true hometown festivals. We host the best hot-air balloon rally and county fair you’ll find anywhere in New York State,” says Smith.

This year’s Great Wellsville Balloon Rally in July offered a parade, refreshments, and the launch of more than 30 hot air balloons helmed by experienced balloon pilots. The balloon rally has been held since the mid-1970s. This year’s Allegany County Fair, also in mid-July, featured exhibits, shows, grandstand events, and more. Hiking, hunting, and camping are hugely popular in Allegany, as are the historic and charming Main Streets that offer local eateries and quaint shops.

At the time of our previous profile, the county was bracing for the closure of a Dresser-Rand plant in the village of Wellsville. After producing steam turbines for over a century, the plant was shuttered for good in April 2020 by its owners, the Siemens company. Since then, the plant site has been repurposed and renamed to the Wellsville Business Park. The Park features nearly half-a-million square feet of warehouse, manufacturing, and office space, a large portion of which has been leased, with new tenants including small manufacturers and companies with warehousing needs. In addition to the Wellsville Business park, Smith shares details regarding the ACME building in Cuba, New York. This location is 180,000 square feet of warehouse, manufacturing, and office space, and has tenants that range from healthcare to production. Both facilities have space for lease or can be purchased in their entirety.

The Allegany County Office of Economic Development, the Allegany County Industrial Development Agency (ACIDA), and state and federal partners, want to attract new businesses to the county and the region in general, and to this end, the ACIDA offers tax-exempt bond financing, sales tax forgiveness, mortgage recording tax fee exemptions, and payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements to interested and qualified companies.

As for the type of companies Allegany hopes to see join their communities, Smith points to the county’s strong agricultural heritage. “We are looking at food industry-specific businesses, companies that utilize rail, and businesses that operate in the ceramics space,” she says. “Additionally, we have abundant natural resources and a need for retail here… At the end of the day, Allegany County is open to any businesses that want to come here and be part of our amazing community.”

“What makes our county attractive,” Smith explains, are the low costs and proximity to major transportation routes.” As to the former, the median property value in Allegany was $97,900 in 2023, making the county eminently affordable. As to the latter, Allegany is located near Buffalo, Rochester, and Canada, and is served by Interstate 86, New York State Routes 19 and 417, among other roadways, rail lines, and a municipal airport based in Wellsville. The county now boasts a Quicklee’s Travel Center (a family-owned convenience store/gas station chain in upstate New York), which serves as a rest area for truck drivers and travelers—and there are plans to develop land adjacent to the site once infrastructure is in place.

In another draw for businesses, the county boasts a highly educated workforce. Allegany is an academic powerhouse with three post-secondary institutions—Alfred State College, Alfred University, and Houghton University—and some programs offered by these schools tie in with local economic needs. Alfred State College, for example, emphasizes the trades and has introduced courses focused on food processing, while Alfred University is focused on advanced ceramics engineering says Smith.

Alfred State College features robust agriculture and applied technology programs; Houghton University is a Christian liberal arts school with strengths in applied sciences and education; and Alfred University boasts a well-known Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology (CACT). While Alfred University is a private institution, its ceramics program is closely connected with the State University of New York (SUNY) system. In total, Allegany County counts 7,000 post-secondary students, with 1,600 graduates each year.

Unsurprisingly, the education sector accounts for the highest number of jobs in the county, followed by healthcare/social assistance and retail. The county’s top employers include Alfred State College, Alfred University, and the Allegany County government, according to an Allegany County Business Resource Guide compiled by the Allegany County Offices of Planning.

Arvos Ljungström of Wellsville and Saputo Dairy Foods in the town of Friendship are two of the largest manufacturing companies in the county. A division of the ARVOS Group, the larger Ljungström company manufactures systems and solutions for the industrial, renewable energy, and thermal heat and power sectors. With a presence in Allegany going back decades, the Wellsville site was selected to fabricate steel components for wind turbine foundations a few years ago. Saputo, one of the top dairy processors in the world, operates a dairy plant in Allegany County and remains a vested partner in the community.

In addition to drawing businesses, Allegany is determined to build on its reputation among tourists and visitors. “The county decided they really needed to brand themselves in the tourism space. We hired a consultant to come in and help us because we’re not widely known—we’re not the Poconos, we’re not Vegas,” says Smith.

Through these efforts, Allegany positioned itself as a pocket of wilderness adventure matched with excellent hospitality and recreational opportunities. The tag “Western New York Wilds of Allegany County” was born, along with a website of the same name, that showcases scenic vistas, historic sites, restaurants, hotels, nightlife, sports, recreation, and culture within the county. The Western New York Wilds concept is also promoted via social media.

As for attracting individuals and families for the long term, Smith says, “We still have that hometown feel; we haven’t grown too big. You can still walk downtown, it’s safe here. You really get that sense of community, and we have all four seasons; it’s beautiful.” The weather is varied, with cold but not frigid winters, warm but not scorching summers, and “incredible fall scenery… Usually, we don’t get snow until January and then in summer, we typically range in the 80s,” she adds.

For anyone suffering from illness or injury, the county is well-served by Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville. With 49 beds, this acute care facility has a coveted four-star rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), a U.S. government agency that offers health coverage through Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs. “We’re really proud of [the hospital]. For a rural community, we have an incredible healthcare system and that’s important,” says Smith.

Going forward, she hopes to see more economic development in the county in the form of new jobs, higher wages, and better opportunities, and is not anticipating any major demographic changes over the next few years. The county population “is probably never going to be 100,000 in my lifetime, but who knows? Because we don’t have a city, we’re not going to see one local area just explode; rather, we’ll see growth across the county that impacts multiple communities.”

If anything, Smith sees Allegany County retaining its rural vibe while expanding its available services. The goal is to be “a place where, while we don’t have the hustle and bustle of urban areas, we offer just as much as they do—we’re not short of any amenities.”

This ties in with another issue; two of the biggest challenges currently facing Allegany County are “site readiness and utilities,” Smith explains. Sewer systems haven’t been fully connected in every municipality (a countywide sewer study is currently underway). There’s also a shortage of new houses, a problem impacting communities across North America. As such, a countywide housing strategy is being conducted, with a view to collaborating with housing developers who want to build in Allegany.

The power grid is a challenge as well. “We’re such a rural community that we’re not graced with adequate power in every location in our communities… That will be our biggest challenge, I think—just getting the infrastructure we need to the locations that are desirable for new businesses,” Smith shares.

“But we’re open to the challenge, so bring it on.”

The post Working Its Charms on Businesses and Visitors<p class="company">Allegany County, New York</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.

Portage Sales, headquartered in Toronto, helps companies in the business-to-business (B2B) sector enhance their performance and revenue. To this end, it delivers comprehensive online and in-person training and enablement for B2B clients regarding sales strategies, client communication, leadership, and the effective use of advanced tools such as artificial intelligence (AI). For companies in traditional industries facing margin pressure and increasingly complex buying processes, the company’s cutting-edge approach differs immensely from traditional corporate training.

Meyers does not believe brief, on-off training works and prefers to engage in months-long relationships with clients. “We don’t just ‘set it and forget it,’” says Meyers. Through long-term commitments, company trainers can gain a clearer sense of a client’s culture, challenges, and business performance—particularly crucial for complex B2B sales where relationships can span years. He compares this comprehensive training process to creating with Lego® blocks: just as each piece adds to the whole, every Portage session builds on previous lessons. “What that means is, we really pay attention to what situations [the clients] run into either with an existing customer or a new prospect in the field, and we build that right into our programs,” rather than using rigid instructional templates.

This philosophy stems from Meyers’ own corporate experience. He started out in the Procter & Gamble marketing department, then moved into B2B sales, managing teams across the United States, before working at Air Miles. “I left corporate because, frankly, I wanted to focus on getting more done and making more of a difference with end-customers,” he explains. When he launched Portage Sales in January 2015, he quickly recognized that companies in both tech and traditional industries faced unique sales challenges that generic B2B training couldn’t address.

Portage runs a revenue Leadership Academy as well as a range of programs delivering training and revenue enablement. A new Portage service dubbed Revenue AI has been added to the fold and portends huge opportunities.

Clients in the Leadership Academy engage in peer-to-peer workshops, training sessions, and one-on-one coaching to gain insights about communication, personal development, and being a leader. For many companies, this often means helping top individual contributors transition into sales leadership roles. Stress is placed on developing effective coaching skills—an important attribute given that organizations with strong sales enablement programs see 84 percent of sales reps achieve their quotas, compared to just 29 percent overall quota attainment industry-wide, according to recent industry research.

“Coaching is by far the best way to change behaviour—providing feedback [to staff and] having difficult conversations,” explains Meyers. “I’ve seen too many companies promote their top individual contributor into sales management, then wonder why their pipeline stalls. Top performance doesn’t automatically create coaching skills, especially when you’re managing teams that sell complex solutions to sophisticated buyers.” One client, a technology company, saw their sales team confidence increase so dramatically that “it was basically night and day in terms of their evolution and professional development,” according to their leadership.

Leadership Academy clients also learn the benefits of “having a clear strategy, making and maintaining clear expectations,” for B2B team members, he continues. This becomes especially critical when sales teams are managing long-term accounts where a single misstep can jeopardize relationships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. The results speak for themselves: one services client saw a 50 percent increase in overall sales during the pandemic.

The academy also focuses heavily on emotional intelligence—the ability to understand and respond to your own emotions and those around you. This becomes particularly valuable when navigating complex stakeholder relationships that can involve everyone from plant managers to CFOs. And leaders are also encouraged to maintain their momentum after training ends. “We’re not going to be around forever with our customers; we know that. We’re going to be around for four months, six months. The rest of the time, the leaders need to carry the weight,” says Meyers.

Portage’s training and revenue enablement programs, meanwhile, include sessions about growth plans, lead generation, conducting outreach, improving value pitches, and filling in skill and talent gaps on a team. For companies dealing with commoditized markets, these programs focus heavily on differentiation strategies and consultative selling approaches that move conversations beyond price. Rather than generic case studies, clients work through actual scenarios they’re facing—whether it’s a stalled negotiation with a major account or navigating a complex RFP process involving multiple decision-makers.

Skills enhancement is also on the agenda, and this can entail getting participants to simply “ask better questions when they’re working with customers,” says Meyers. One client learned to “actively listen to everything that’s going on,” and found they could uncover growth opportunities they’d been missing, leading to deals with significantly larger brands.

The company’s thought leadership extends beyond training through its podcast series and webinars, covering critical topics such as Gaining Sales Productivity from AI, Why Most Sales Teams Miss Quota, and Bridging the Sales and Marketing Divide.

As of late, the company has been spending a great deal of time outlining the pros and cons of artificial intelligence. If there is a prevailing theme in Portage’s instruction, it is the importance of using AI as a tool, not a crutch. While B2B teams might already be experimenting with AI programs, “there’s a real dichotomy between experimenting and actually getting value out of it,” says Meyers. “I would say only 20 percent, based on our experience so far, are getting good and substantive value out of AI or the technology transformation of their business.”

Given the technological expertise of its employees, Portage Sales is “uniquely equipped to not only understand technology but know what the heck to do with it—how to apply it. How to turn it into value,” he continues. For companies with complex sales processes, this goes far beyond basic automation. Portage helps clients use AI to analyze lengthy sales cycles for pattern recognition, create dynamic proposal generation that adapts to different stakeholder priorities, and develop predictive models that identify when deals might be at risk. One SaaS client uses AI to automatically tailor software demos for different buyer personas within the same organization.

While the company excels at AI and conducts many programs online, Meyers is very aware of the importance of human connection. He points out that there are certain advantages to in-person training: “You can read the room. You understand what’s going on. You have rapport. You have connection, and we’re able to run a better program that has higher engagement,” he shares.

This agility is particularly valuable for companies whose markets are constantly evolving—whether due to supply chain disruptions, regulatory changes, or shifting customer demands.

Portage Sales has a global reach but primarily works with clients in North America. The team is fully virtual and gathers regularly at co-working facilities.

Today, 10 people work at Portage, all of whom were carefully selected by Meyers.

Portage values pragmatic innovation, openness, and tailored expertise, all to drive lasting change through people. “I feel really fortunate,” says Meyers. “I have a great team, and we’ve worked hard to find each other. I am very happy to be growing as a company. A lot of companies don’t survive. I’m very proud of that.”

Certainly, many of Portage’s clients seem impressed with what the company has to offer and the improvements they have seen in their own employees. Clients include EECOL, DUCA, Hubbell Canada, LBi Software, and Rheem, and most business comes from referrals or repeat customers. The results are dramatic: one technology company achieved a 50 percent increase in overall sales during the pandemic and was on track for another 25 percent increase the following year. Another client signed two major sports teams after applying Portage’s methodologies, with deals that were “significantly larger in size” than previous agreements. A distribution company saw a 40 percent improvement in deal closure rates by training their team to navigate complex multi-stakeholder buying processes.

Going forward, Meyers has no interest in switching his focus from B2B consultative business models. “It will always be B2B. To me, that’s what I’m passionate about. It’s what the whole team is experienced in,” he says. Within a couple of years, he hopes to “have embedded AI more and more into the practice of the business. The big one for us right now is revenue AI.” But regardless of the technology evolution, the core mission remains unchanged. “We’ve used technology; we’ve used our know-how in combination to do some things that are different and truly innovative. That’s the piece that gets me excited. I think as a team we can do even more of that in the next five years—helping B2B firms not just improve their performance, but achieve the kind of sustained growth that creates lasting competitive advantage.”

The post Making Your Business Better<p class="company">Portage Sales</p> appeared first on Business In Focus Magazine.