Walkerton Tool & Die began 50 years ago, when Harold Rizek started the business in his mother’s garage, performing second-hand drilling and tapping operations for Caterpillar. Now, his son Scott runs the company, although Harold remains a key part of the daily operation.

"He’s still day-to-day; he’s 76, and still here every day at 7 a.m. doing what he needs to do," Scott says of his father. "Just seeing what he can do at that age is great motivation, even for me. It doesn’t surprise me the company’s been going for 50 years because of the great work ethic he instills – and all the guys do, really."

Caterpillar remains the company’s largest customer – and all of its customers reside in the Midwest. While providing parts to Caterpillar has remained a constant part of the company’s business, Scott explains the industry has changed over the years.

"Back in the 1960’s, tool fixturing and dies were where the money was," he says. " Today, we really don’t do tool and die work or fixtures, it’s mostly short-run to high-production machining. You went from the highly skilled die makers and tool makers (to more tech-based production), but the technology is leaps and bounds ahead."

He adds that the economic decline in recent years caused the company to change how it operated.

"With the downturn, we saw volumes go down," Scott relays. "So we had to get more efficient. We moved machines into cells so one machinist runs two machines… and we invest in new equipment with faster machining times to help productivity. We were coping with lower volumes, but getting more economical to still turn a profit."

In the future, Walkerton Tool & Die will likely further diversify its capabilities to meet customer needs.

"Over the years, my father built the company to where we don’t specialize in one size of part," Scott offers.  "We can run little parts off of bar feed lathe and we can go up to seven feet long; we’ve machined some big axels for bulldozers. So we want to keep diversifying our machine capabilities as far as sizes, and that will help us in the long run."

He adds that many patrons who come into the shop are surprised by how much activity goes on in the 17,000 square foot building.

"One thing people always tell me, whether it’s a customer, a salesman, or a new guy coming in, is that our shop isn’t super huge but when you get in here, everything’s organized, it’s a clean shop and it’s a lot of technology," Scott notes. "Everything’s compact in here and it makes us more efficient as far as moving parts from machine to machine. A lot of people say they’ve driven by here for years and can’t believe what it’s like inside."

All told, Scott looks forward to 50 more years of productivity from the Walkerton business, which remains a point of stability in an industry and economic climate that are sometimes precarious.  

"In this trade, if you’re in business 50 years, you must be doing something right because it’s tough to stay in business nowadays," he concludes.

Phil Mercier was included in the September/October 2011 BizVoice® article, "Free Agents," about older employees seeking to re-enter the workforce (part of our Workforce Wise series). After reading the article, Jeff Maki, owner of Models Plus in Kingsford Heights (LaPorte County), reached out to Mercier and ultimately hired him.

"Without that article, Phil and I would have never connected," Maki says. "Phil and I share some common vision on business. He has tremendous background. We are leveraging his expertise and experience to grow our business."

Mercier is about to complete his first month at Models Plus, which provides models, prototypes, custom displays, packaging and engineering for dental and orthopaedic implant manufacturers, as well as patient education tools for health care providers.

"My skills and experience have been put to good use helping (Maki) expand his business in the orthopaedic industry," Mercier explains. "(Maki) started in the dental business over 20 years ago and began applying his capabilities to companies in Warsaw over the past three years. I will be helping him with the company’s rapid expansion into orthopaedics."

What a BizVoice success story! If you’d like to join our over 12,000 readers, just visit the web site.

I’m wrapping up the finishing touches on a March/April BizVoice article on logistics initiatives in Indiana, and it highlights the new Logistics Training and Education Center in Plainfield. Inside INdiana Business interviewed Vincennes University President Dick Helton about the development. See the video here:

Vincennes University is dedicating a new Logistics Training and Education Center today in Plainfield. The launch of the facility has been aided by a $500,000 grant from the town. In an interview to air this weekend on Inside INdiana Business Television, VU President Dick Helton talks about the role the center is playing in helping train the state’s logistics workforce.

I recently posted a blog mentioning some of the good things McDonald’s was doing on social media. Today comes a cautionary tale from the fast food giant about Twitter hashtags. The Huffington Post reports (or whatever you call it when an aggregate news site reposts stuff):

From there, the #McDStories hashtag was born, but probably not in the way McDonald’s was hoping. Negative tweets about the fast food giant began to proliferate, prompting the New York Observer to remark that "some stories are better left untold." Tweets ranged from tweeting about being high while eating McDonald’s to throwing up the food.

While the hashtag grew steam, McDonald’s also had a back and forth with PETA on Twitter, in which McDonald’s tried to correct some of PETA’s allegations about using mechanically separated white meat.

This isn’t the first time that a fast food company has lost control of its hashtag, points out MainStreet.com. Perhaps even worse than #McDStories was Wendy’s hashtag of last year, #HeresTheBeef.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to Congress on January 23 encouraging it to support investment in the nation’s surface transportation infrastructure. The letter had around 1,000 signatories from the business community, as most feel enhanced transportation infrastructure (better bridges, public transportation, etc.) will make America a better place to do business. Congress has until March 31 to reauthorize the current funding law: 

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE AND SENATE:

As Congress embarks on a new legislative session, we, the undersigned companies and organizations, urge you to Make Transportation Job #1 in 2012 and pass federal highway, transit and safety legislation before the current law expires on March 31. The long-delayed reauthorization of federal highway and public transportation programs is a major piece of unfinished business that can provide a meaningful boost to the U.S. economy and its workers and already has broad-based support.

To grow, the United States must invest. There are few federal efforts that rival the potential of critical transportation infrastructure investments for sustaining and creating jobs and economic activity over the short term.

Maintaining at 2011 levels—and ideally increasing—federal funding for road, bridge, public transportation and safety investments can sustain and create jobs and economic activity in the short-term, and improve America’s export and travel infrastructure, offer new economic growth opportunities, and make the nation more competitive over the long-term. Program reform would make the dollars stretch even further: reducing the time it takes transportation projects to get from start to finish, encouraging public-private partnerships and use of private capital, increasing accountability for using federal funds to address the highest priority needs, and spurring innovation and technology deployment.

We recognize there are challenges in finding the resources necessary to adequately fund such a measure. However, with the economic opportunities that a well-crafted measure could afford and emerging political consensus for advancing such an effort, we believe it is time for all involved parties to come together and craft a final product.

In 2011, political leaders—Republican and Democrat, House, Senate and the Administration — stated a multi-year surface transportation bill is important for job creation and economic recovery. We urge you to follow words with action: Make Transportation Job #1 and move legislation immediately in the House and Senate to invest in the roads, bridges, transit systems that are the backbone of the U.S. economy, its businesses large and small, and communities of all sizes.

Considering my boss is a proud Ball State alum (actually, both of my bosses are) and he’s editor of BizVoice magazine, it’s no wonder I’ve gotten quite a few Cardinal-oriented story assignments in the last few years. However, the writing has really opened my eyes as to what an innovative institution the state has up in Muncie. While Ball State’s main claims to fame center around telecommunications and technology, their latest endeavor is in the field of on-campus energy production. Here’s text from a release from the school on its new geothermal program, and you can also read about its early stages in the July/August 2009 BizVoice:

In the shadow of two outdated smokestacks and four antiquated coal-fired boilers, Ball State has started the second and final phase of converting the university to a geothermal ground-source heat pump system – the largest project of its kind in the United States.

The conversion, started in 2009 to replace the coal boilers, now provides heating and cooling to nearly half the campus. This phase of the project will be dedicated in March.

When the system is complete, the shift from fossil fuels to a renewable energy source will reduce the university’s carbon footprint by nearly half while saving $2 million a year in operating costs.

Ball State is installing a vertical, closed-loop district system that uses only fresh water. The system uses the Earth’s ability to store heat in the ground and water thermal masses. A geothermal heat pump uses the Earth as either a heat source, when operating in heating mode, or a heat sink, when operating in cooling mode.

Under the direction of Jim Lowe, director of engineering, construction and operations, work has begun on Phase 2, which includes installation of 780 of the remaining 1,800 boreholes in a field on the south area of campus.

Construction will continue throughout 2013-2014 and will include a new District Energy Station South containing two 2,500-ton heat pump chillers and a hot water loop around the south portion of campus. The system will then connect to all buildings on campus – eventually providing heating and cooling to 5.5 million square feet.

"When costs began to escalate for the installation of a new fossil fuel burning boiler, the university began to evaluate other renewable energy options," Lowe says. "This led to the decision to convert the campus to a more efficient geothermal-based heating and cooling system."

The project has caught the attention of universities and communities across the nation. Lowe is sharing information about the university’s new operation with others who want learn how they too can benefit from a geothermal system.

In a column for Inside INdiana Business, Larry Gigerich of Ginovus lays out the case for right-to-work in plain English.

1. Percentage Growth in Non-Farm Private Sector Employees (1995-2005)
a. Right to Work States: 12.9%
b. Non-right to Work States: 6.0%

2. Average Poverty Rate-Adjusted for Cost of Living (2002-2004)
a. Right to Work States: 8.5%
b. Non-right to Work States: 10.1%

3. Percentage Growth in Patents Annually Granted (1995-2005)
a. Right to Work States: 33.0%
b. Non-right to Work States: 11.0%

4. Percentage Growth in Real Personal Income (1995-2005)
a. Right to Work States: 26.0%
b. Non-right to Work States: 19.0%

5. Percentage Growth in Number of People Covered by Employment Based Private Health Insurance (1995-2005):
a. Right to Work States: 8.5%
b. Non-right to Work States: 0.7%

As noted above, right to work states create more private sector jobs, enjoy lower poverty rates, experience more technology development, realize more personal income growth, and increase the number of people covered by employment-based private health insurance. These facts provide public policy thought leaders with compelling information regarding the importance of being a right to work state. Many of the states that are faring most poorly in terms of unemployment rates and economic growth are non-right to work states. Most assuredly, this is not the only reason, but it is an important contributor to these states’ struggles. It is important for state-level policy makers to remove any barriers to economic growth in their state. A non-right to work state changing to a right to work state is an excellent example of how leaders can improve a state’s outlook. Elected officials in non-right to work states should seriously examine this issue and consider the potential benefits to their citizens.