Sewer Equipment
Sewer Equipment, a Dixon, Illinois-based manufacturer of sewer cleaning and vacuum excavation gear, just passed a huge corporate milestone. The family-owned firm celebrated its eightieth anniversary last year and continues to develop new products and set new goals.
AREPA
It is a common nightmare for anyone who owns a manufacturing or industrial plant that a disaster—natural or otherwise—strikes their facility, damaging specialized technical equipment. The inclination, in such situations, is to throw out any damaged electronics and buy replacements. If a company wants to save time and money, however, they could contact disaster recovery experts AREPA instead.
Telematics Solutions for Smarter Trucking
In decades past, long-distance commercial truckers faced limited options when it came to communicating with fleet operations managers. Once they hit the highway, truck drivers could radio in their location, mileage, and other performance indicators—provided they had a radio and clear reception. Beyond reports from the driver, there was no way an operations manager could monitor real-time truck performance while back in the office.
ArtiFlex Manufacturing
From its Grand Rapids, Michigan headquarters, ArtiFlex Manufacturing, an innovative, vertically integrated enterprise, has big plans for growth based on partnerships with other businesses. The firm’s name—an amalgam of artisan and flexible—summarizes its unique approach to design and manufacturing, with the company organized into four groups devoted to innovation, tooling, automation, and manufacturing.
Globe Food Equipment
These are busy times at Globe Food Equipment Corporation, a Dayton, Ohio-based firm which designs and manufactures commercial kitchen equipment. Since Business in Focus profiled Globe in October 2018, the company has introduced new products, adjusted to the market realities of COVID, and taken up distribution duties for a company called Varimixer.
The Town of Davie, FL
A spirit of community and growth pervades the Town of Davie, located in Broward County, Florida, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. The Town responded decisively when the virus struck, protecting residents and helping businesses. Now that the worst of the pandemic has hopefully passed, Davie is eager to finish a series of large capital projects and launch new developments.
New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation (NBEDC)
New Braunfels was booming when Business in Focus profiled the Central Texas city in November 2019. The boom has not subsided despite COVID-19, and the city continues to attract new residents, new construction, and new developments. Over the past three years, several major companies have either expanded operations in New Braunfels or announced plans to set up in the city.
The Internet of Things and the Connectivity of Modern Life
Once viewed as the stuff of science fiction movies, ‘connected’ consumer goods have become ubiquitous. Using ‘smart devices,’ homeowners can remotely program their coffee makers and barbecues, download directions in the car and automate chores such as watering the garden. Smart gadgets connect via an online network known as the Internet of Things (IoT) to relay data and receive commands.
Hightowers Petroleum Company
Hightowers Petroleum Company (HPC) has successfully adapted to the challenges posed by COVID and shifting energy markets. Incorporated in 1984, this Middletown, Ohio-based, family-run gas and diesel wholesaler, profiled in the July 2019 issue of Business in Focus magazine, continues to be a leading African-American-owned fuel company, primarily serving the downstream petroleum sector.
Seafood Express Transport
Seafood Express Transport, a family-owned, award-winning trucking firm based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, is gearing up for growth following an extremely challenging year.
Polyplex Corporation
Polyplex Corporation Ltd. has been a global market leader in the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyester and metallized film markets for the past couple of decades. Polyplex’s’ entire growth in all these years has been through green or brown field expansions in diverse geographies and keeping in agreement with the group’s philosophy of “being where the customer is.” Polyplex’s portfolio of films are primarily used in packaging and industrial applications. Business has been very robust in part due to increased demand for packaged foods and medical packaging in the wake of COVID-19.
Lester R. Summers, Inc. (Summers Trucking)
A few months ago, Lester R. Summers, Inc., a venerable, family-owned, heavy haul transport company based in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, met with each individual in its company to discuss the company’s response to COVID-19. The effects had hit Pennsylvania hard.
Allstates Rigging
Allstates Rigging – a woman-owned, turnkey rigging contractor based in Two Rivers, Wisconsin – is in expansion mode. The firm’s skills include forklift operations, plant relocation, and machinery transportation, and it recently acquired a machining facility to augment its services. As befitting the company name, Allstates works with clients across the USA.
Simard Suspensions
Simard Suspensions designs, manufactures, and installs front and rear suspensions and steering systems for vocational trucks. The Quebec-based firm has a new assembly plant, a popular patented front tandem suspension system, and a culture of innovation. The company also does truck conversions and offers a cutting-edge line of modified vocational vehicles for off-road work.
Kaufman Container
Kaufman Container has been a leader in the packaging industry for over 100 years, yet they continue to find new and innovative ways to evolve as a company. They have adopted new markets, invested in new state-of-the-art decorating equipment and have put an emphasis on sustainability. In other words, a lot has changed since Business in Focus last profiled Kaufman Container in 2016.
Metro Plastics Technologies
Now approaching its forty-fifth anniversary, Metro Plastics Technologies, Inc. of Noblesville, Indiana owes much of its initial success to a goofy disco-era fashion trend involving rings with acrylic stones that changed color. However, the company’s long-term success comes from doing excellent work, offering an array of custom injection molding services, and maintaining strong customer relations.
Town of Davie, FL
The Town of Davie, Florida has been a busy place of late. Since Business in Focus profiled this booming Broward County community in December 2018, several long-term construction projects have been seeing results. Davie officials also unveiled a strategy designed to guide economic development through 2023 while maintaining service levels in a period of major growth.
Select Tool
Select Tool, Inc. of Oldcastle, Ontario, has undergone many changes since the firm was profiled in September 2017 in Business in Focus magazine. Many positive changes, that is, despite uncertainty in the automotive market which makes up the bulk of its business. Select’s Mexican satellite plant has begun operations, and the company has expanded its domestic facilities.
Nationwide Boiler
Much is the same at Nationwide Boiler Incorporated, since Business in Focus last featured the California-based firm in its December 2018 issue. The scope of its operations, however, continues to expand.
Attabotics
Attabotics Inc. is a Calgary-based company with ground breaking technology and big ambitions. The firm, in its own words, is all about ‘creating the supply chain for modern commerce.’ Its vehicle for achieving this goal is a cutting-edge, three-dimensional, robotic warehousing and order fulfillment system.
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City of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
Across the country, small but growing communities are working hard to invest in local infrastructure to sustain the growth that is taking place. This is particularly true of the city of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, a suburb of Madison that has gone to great lengths to take advantage of the growth and opportunity that presents itself.
Twin Cities Development Association
Founded in 1985, Twin Cities Development (TCD) supports economic growth within Western Nebraska. The association is always eager to welcome new businesses and supports newcomers like family, TCD Executive Director Jordan Diedrich reports. This support includes connecting talent and industry, providing housing options, offering site selection assistance, and supporting economic development projects.
MMP Architects
Consistency, continuity, and quality have been central to the success of MMP Architects Inc., based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and founded nearly a century ago. In addition to its impressive heritage and sharp design skills, the company has a technology-savvy attitude, low staff turnover, and a customer-friendly ethos.
Harrison Homes
Finding a general contractor who understands how to efficiently design and construct a residential community that achieves the financial goals of the client can, at times, be easier said than done. Harrison Homes takes a commercial approach to residential developments, providing optimized solutions that maximize their clients’ return on investment. They achieve this by offering a robust portfolio of services, powered by an A-list team of professionals and hand-picked subcontractors that excel at creating quality spaces for people to call home.
Viking Masek
When Leonhard Packaging Solutions (LPS) was founded by Robb Leonhard and his older brother Rick in 2002, the company started small, with Rick serving as President and Robb filling the role of Vice President. The brothers had the drive and talent for finding the right people and empowering others, a quality they brought to the newly formed business. In the next few years they brought in RC Huhn and Scott Miller to the ownership team. Both brought strong skill sets that complemented the team.
Chick Machine Company
Chick Machine Company is celebrating its 52nd anniversary as one of Pennsylvania’s most well-known and reliable machine shops. The company’s story began in August 1971, with its namesake Jim Chick realizing his vision on roughly 300 acres near the city of Butler, part of rural western Pennsylvania. The business was an idea Chick had after he left a machining position in the area to pursue his fortunes. This decision coincided with a business venture by friends of his, who had just started a local precision laser company, now a multi-billion-dollar outfit in nearby Saxonburg.
