Searching out new business and markets is paying off for
Dimplex Thermal Solutions, a manufacturer of coolers and chillers used in the industrial, medical, food and pharmaceutical industries.
"Things started improving for us in a significant way about a year ago," says Gerald Wilson, director of sales and marketing for the Kalamazoo company. The company experienced a fairly significant downturn in 2009 and 2010.
"Things started to rebound in April of last year," Wilson says, "and what we saw in 2010 and early this year was a continued strength of orders both numerically and in dollar of value."
The company brought in $36 million in sales in 2010, a 39 percent jump from 2009. The increase allowed the company to nearly double its workforce, growing to 173 employees by the end of 2010 from a low of 92 the previous year.
Since January, Dimplex Thermal Solutions officials say they have continued that expansion, adding 13 additional employees, including 10 to their production workforce.
Wilson says a lot of projects are put in a holding pattern until companies sense that they can make an investment with some degree of return on it. He says it wasn't until the end of 2010 that the machine tool industry, which Dimplex considers a core business, began to pick up again as companies regain the confidence they need to invest again.
Wilson says Dimplex officials are cautiously optimistic about the company's growth trajectory. Like many companies, it tries to stay on top of world economic developments so it can make better projections regarding its future.
Writer: Jane C. Parikh
Source: Gerald Wilson, Dimplex
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