BY MICHAEL BURKE
Journal Times | Posted: Monday, November 26, 2007 12:00 am
RACINE - Three local businesses housed under one roof are in new quarters and poised for growth.
Bruce Jensen and Ko Kryger are co-owners of Bert Jensen & Sons, Ultra Industries Inc. and Ingram Compaction LLC. Until recently, all three shared an old industrial building at 1908 DeKoven Ave.
Three weeks ago, Jensen and Kryger moved all three firms to 2300 South St. in Huck Industrial Park. Their old building is being leased to Jacquet Midwest. The new plant previously was home to beverage distributor Domanik Sales, until its owner sold the company.
"We were growing out of the (previous) facility," Kryger said. It was old, and utilities cost a mint. Although the building was large for its time, the three companies located there were cramped by the 30,000 square feet of high-bay area, where overhead cranes are used to manipulate heavy metal plates.
"Here we have the potential for 60,000 square feet of high-bay manufacturing space on 10 acres," Kryger said about the new building. The acreage would allow for expansion beyond the existing building, he said.
Bert Jensen & Sons is a metal fabrication and job shop; Jensen is the third-generation president of the Racine company founded in 1922. The firm employs about 50 people and does much of the fabrication work for Ingram and Ultra.
Ingram, which started in Texas, makes rollers for road-compaction equipment.
It shares about a dozen employees with Ultra - formerly based in the Chicago area - which makes air-filtration/dust-collection systems. Customers for the dust collectors include large food manufacturers such as General Mills.
Kryger said he and Jensen project the need for about 20 more employees within three to four years. The coal and mining industries are booming, which digs up work for Bert Jensen & Sons.
"We're growing with all three companies," Kryger said. The owners expect to be able to double their production with the new plant, possibly by adding a third shift.
New investment
Although the owners declined to publicly state their annual revenues, they said sales for Bert Jensen grew about 25 percent this year. For all three companies combined, growth was about 20 percent.
"Next year we would expect the same," Kryger said.
To support that growth, the owners said, they have invested about $1 million in new technology since January including a laser metal cutter, plasma cutter, painting system and press break (for bending metal).
They also are slowly building up their support team and recently added an engineer.
Jensen and Kryger do have one limiting factor: a shortage of dependable welders.
"That's why we got involved with the welding boot camp" through Gateway Technical College, Jensen said.
If they can find enough welders, the owners can expand from 12 welding stations to at least 18, and into the mid-20s if needed, Kryger said.
Despite the difficulty in finding enough welders, Jensen said, "We're committed to the City of Racine. This is where the work force is."
Both he and Kryger said their new manufacturing plant should help attract good employees.
"We notice a difference in the spirit of the people coming over here," Kryger said.