MEC Makes History

Mayville Engineering Company (MEC), an employee-owned Mayville based manufacturer with a rich history, is now making history. In a city publication   you will read  the comment of MEC founder, the late Ted Bachhuber, as quoted in a company newsletter, that "Mayville Engineering Company was born in the fall of 1945 over a couple of beers and a handshake...."    The story continues:

His Uncle Leo had approached [Ted] about starting the business and an agreement was soon sealed. They started doing business in a rented garage behind Main Street with a few tools, a lot of debt, and an abundance of great ideas. The primary focus was contract manufacturing. Within a year, Leo's health forced him to retire, and from that point on, Ted's wife Grace became his unofficial business partner. A homespun philosophy and faith in people is what led to Ted and Grace Bachhuber's dream, the growth and development of Mayville Engineering Company, Inc. (now referred to as MEC) into a worldwide provider of products and services.

City of Mayville online article at http://www.mayvilletagcenter.com/name.html.

And now look at what MEC has been doing, as reported in the December 17, 2012 Journal Sentinal:

Mayville Engineering Co., which has added hundreds of jobs in Wisconsin factories over the past six years, launched an out-of-state expansion Monday with the acquisition of Center Manufacturing Inc.
Mayville acquired the Michigan metal components manufacturer from the private-equity firm Industrial Opportunity Partners of Evanston, Ill., which had owned Center since 2006. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Center, based in Byron Center, Mich., will become a division of Mayville.
The combined business will have sales in the range of $350 million, said Robert Kamphuis, Mayville's chairman and chief executive. That compares with sales of about $40 million in 2004, he said.
Mayville has grown as it capitalized on a strong financial position to win business after financially strapped competitors failed during the recession. Since 2006, it has opened new factories in Neillsville and Wautoma and added nearly 800 jobs in Wisconsin, bringing total employment here to 1,200, Kamphuis said.
Its moves during and after the downturn helped it gain market share with key customers.
"You do that in a down market and gather market share," said Kamphuis. "Then, when the market takes off, you really pop."

http://www.jsonline.com/business/mayville-engineering-acquires-michigan-manufacturer-v682cmq-183795891.htm  (12/17/2012)