For nearly 100 years, Baker McMillen Co. survived, but it wasn’t until its sale to Rich Miller in 1975 that it began to thrive.
That year, the company had two customers and 19 employees. Today, it employs more than 350.
“You had a company that basically sat dormant from 1874 to 1975,” says William Kimmerle, who in February completed purchasing the stock from Miller, his father-in-law.
The Stow company, which specializes in precision hardwood turnings, has grown through diversifying into new products and through acquisitions, including that of Phoenix Millwork, a Texas company with a unique product line whose owner was ready to retire.
“Our original company grew through offering more to the existing customer base than we already had to offer,” says Kimmerle. “We wanted to grow the company and worked very hard together to grow it aggressively. Our goal is to continue to do that.”
The strategy has paid off, as Baker McMillen nearly doubled its 1994 sales revenues to more than $30,000,000 last year.
Baker McMillen continues to make products for other manufacturers, including vacuum rollers, and “through the acquisition of companies with their own proprietary line of products, we were able to develop our own products,” beginning in 1987, Kimmerle says.
The company, the second oldest in Akron after BFGoodrich, has three facilities in Stow, including the Waddell Manufacturing Co. division, purchased in 1987 and moved from Grand Rapids, Mich., to Stow in 1990. It sells unfinished wood products to the do-it-yourself home center and hardware chain retailers, such as Lowes and Home Depot, and employs about 40.
“We’re playing with some of the largest retailers in the industry,” which means the company is held to very high standards, says Kimmerle. “We believe we’re the biggest wood turner in this niche.”
The Crook-Miller Co. division in Hicksville, Ohio, was purchased in 1982 and manufacturers garden tool handles for the original equipment manufacturers’ market. It is vertically integrated with a state-of-the-art saw mill. Crook-Miller employs approximately 75.
The Phoenix Millwork division in Beaumont, Texas, acquired in 1995, produces and sells unfinished Victorian gingerbread wood trim items to the same do-it-yourself retailers as the Waddell Manufacturing division and employs about 95.
With a strong board of advisers and clear goals, Kimmerle is optimistic about the company’s future and its continued growth.
“It’s a challenging environment, but a great business.”
