May 17, 2012Pair of Weber-Knapp Employees Buy Company to Keep Local
Long-time Weber-Knapp employees, Rex McCray (top right) and Donald Pangborn (bottom left), and Mayor Sam Teresi (seated middle) sign the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC) loan papers and other documents that turn ownership of the company over to the new business partners. Ward 4 City Councilman and JLDC Member, Vince DeJoy, looks on.
JAMESTOWN LOCAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Tier II Jobs and Private Investment Loan Program
WEBER-KNAPP
Fact Sheet
Project Description and History:
- Rex E. McCray and Donald R. Pangborn are purchasing 100% of the common stock of Weber-Knapp Company, Inc. including its wholly owned subsidiaries EZ Office, Inc. and W-K Custom Solutions, Inc. (collectively, “Weber-Knapp”), from Melrose, PLC.
- Mr. McCray has been President /CEO of Weber-Knapp since 2002. He started his career in 1978 with Weber-Knapp and has held various functions including Production Control Expeditor, Assistant Personnel Manager, Assembly Plant Manager, Production Control Manager, and Director of Operations. During the last nine years his responsibilities have included executive management for multiple business entities in the United States, Kaohslung, Taiwan and Quebec, Canada.
- Mr. Pangborn has served as Sr. Vice President–Engineering during the past (9) years. Mr. Pangborn joined the company in 1979 as a Design Engineer and progressed to Senior Product Engineer, Product Engineering Manager, Director of Engineering, and VP of Engineering. Mr. Pangborn has developed propriety programs and software specific to mechanical motion control applications. He is an inventor on several US and foreign patents and currently has additional patent applications in process.
Project Financing:
Jamestown Local Development Corporation $ 200,000
Chautauqua County Industrial Development Loan $ 400,000
Southern Tier Enterprise Development Organization Loan $ 200,000
Mr. McCray and Mr. Pangborn will be making a significant, multi-million dollar private investment toward the purchase of the company.
Employment:
As the result of Mr. McCray and Mr. Pangborn purchasing the company, they are committed to maintaining the current employment levels at 115 full-time positions, consisting of 77 production workers and 38 support staff (including 21 engineers).
Company History:
Weber-Knapp Co., Inc. was founded in Jamestown, New York in 1909 by Adam Weber and Edward Knapp. Weber Knapp operates two locations in the Jamestown, New York area. The 441 Chandler Street location consists of 17,500 square feet of office space and, 88,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The 2017 Allen Street location in Falconer, New York consists of 128,000 square feet of assembly and shipping space.
EZ Office, Inc. was incorporated in 1998 in Taiwan and is a 100% owned subsidiary of Weber Knapp. EZ Office capabilities are supported by Weber’s engineering and administrative capabilities and its low cost structure which are used to produce mature, higher volume products that support lower margins. The Kaohsiung, Taiwan plant is leased with 19,000 square feet.
WK-Custom Solutions Inc. was incorporated in New York in 2010 and is a 100% owned subsidiary of Weber Knapp. WK Custom was formed to support the new US General Services Administrative market.
Utilizing its extensive engineering capabilities, Weber Knapp provides unique product solutions for specific customer needs. Weber Knapp sells its established office furniture ergonomics, appliances, retail electronic displays, engineered solutions and hinge product lines to distributors and OEM’s. Experience in these product lines is being leveraged to enter the medical ergonomics and US General Services Administration markets.
The office furniture ergonomics line is a long-standing line that based on initial market reaction will see increased sales from the Hide-Away product that Webber Knapp launched in 2010. The Hide-Away product is an improved solution to an existing need in a known market. Increased sales will also be realized from sales to Knoll which is returning as a customer following a legal injunction that ends in December 2011.
The company is taking advantage of opportunities to work with current appliance customers to offer additional products and increase sales in this line.
The depth of experience in mechanical motion control allows the Company to offer custom solutions to meet customer needs.
The Company also manufactures retail store fixtures and wall display units for consumer electronic products for Falconer Electronics Inc.
The home hinge product line is a mature market where Weber Knapp builds low volume runs of established, unique hinge designs.
The medical product line is being introduced through sales agreements with equipment distributors to the medical field, specifically medical imaging equipment. The company is able to provide non-powered, mechanical, green motion control system; adjustable tables; carts; monitor supports, etc.
The Company sells a variety of parts. During 2010, Weber-Knapp had sales of over 1,500 different part numbers. The sales of the top 200 parts accounted for 80% of the company’s sales dollars.