Weber Knapp, A Company Preserved

Reprinted from Post Journal 8/28/11

A Jamestown company that has been in operation for more than 100 years will soon be locally owned - again.

Weber Knapp has been operating in the Jamestown area for more than 102 years. However, since the 1920s, when the company was purchased by a Michigan-based company, Weber Knapp hasn't been locally owned. The most recent company owner has been Melrose plc, a British-based investment company. On Monday, however, that will most likely change.

 That is the closing date for two Weber Knapp executives who have been working since November to purchase the business and to keep its ownership local.

 ''It was unknown,'' is how Rex McCray, Weber Knapp president and chief executive officer, summed up the future of the business if it would have been sold to an outside group. ''It was out of our hands.''

 McCray said his biggest fear was that Melrose could have sold the company to a competitor. That could have led to its two local plants in Jamestown and Falconer being shut down. If that would have happened, 110 employees would have lost their jobs and the Jamestown area would have lost the company's estimated $10.5 million in economic impact.

 So, during the last 10 months, McCray and Donald Pangborn, senior vice president of engineering, have been working with local agencies and financiers to purchase the business. By working with the Vineyeard Group, a multi-faceted consulting group, the two received financing from Five Star Bank, Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency, Jamestown Local Development Corporation and Southern Tier Enterprise Development Organization.

 ''We couldn't have done this without them (Vineyard group and the financiers),'' Pangborn said. ''The deal was exciting and scary, all at the same time. We still have to work hard, we've just brought more stability. We wanted to bring stability to the employees so we would know we were staying local.''

 McCray and Pangborn said there would have been no deal to purchase the company without the Weber Knapp workforce.

 ''We wouldn't have made this move without being confident in the employees,'' Pangborn said.

 McCray added the businesses has little turnover in employees, so everyone knows one another.

 ''This is a family business. We know each other's families, wife's name, how many kids they have and their names. We enjoy going to work. This is a great place to raise a family,'' he said. ''It is all about the employee base. Just not Don and me.''

 WHAT WEBER KNAPP DOES

 If you go to the company's website, viewers will see Weber Knapp is a motion-control systems business that offers customized hinging mechanisms that gives appliances and ergonomic products fluid movement, balance and style.

 McCray and Pangborn said to simplify, Weber Knapp designs components other companies purchase to complement its products.

 ''We are in the product you buy as a component,'' McCray said.

 The Weber Knapp components are in office furniture, hinges for high-end appliances, copy machines and numerous other products.

By Dennis Phillips