By Boris Ladwig, The Republic City Editor
A joint venture that would have closed a local manufacturing plant has been canceled, saving about 20 Columbus jobs.
Qualtronics LLC, at 1400 Grand Ave., had planned to form a joint venture with Zelienople, Pa.-based CMR USA and move operations into a new $1.4 million, 20,000-square-foot plant in Greenfield.
“Differences in management (philosophy) came to light that it no longer made sense to move forward,” said Qualtronics President Robert G. Daly.
The company still plans to move, however, because it has outgrown the 8,400 square feet on Grand Ave.
“Our intention is to stay within a 15-to-20-minute radius of where we are,” Daly said.
A Columbus Economic Development official said he was happy the company decided to stay in the area and is working with them to find a suitable location in Columbus.
Qualtronics manufactures wiring harnesses, which consist of a series of wires and connectors that link an engine with the rest of the vehicle.
Daly formed the company in fall 1996 with business partners Gavin Payne and Dennis Albert. Daly and Payne previously worked for a similar company in Columbus, while Albert worked for Cummins Inc., Qualtronics’ largest customer.
Qualtronics produces mostly low-volume, customized harnesses for street sweepers, fire trucks, agricultural equipment and other applications for customers in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
The company specializes in customers who buy Cummins engines and need help integrating the engine electronics with the rest of the vehicle, Daly said.
Joint venture
The most recent recession had cut Qualtronics’ employment to 10, from about 16, Daly said. However, in the last two years, business has picked up, and employment has held steady at about 20.
CMR approached Qualtronics to do some business together, and as discussions progressed, the companies decided to form a joint venture.
CMR, part of Marseille, France-based CMR Group, which has operations on four continents, manufactures instrumentation and controls for industrial engines and marine systems, according to its Web site.
CMR does a lot of business in Lafayette, including some for Cummins’ rival, Caterpillar Inc., Daly said, and during the joint venture discussions, the potential partners decided to find a location near the geographic middle between Lafayette and Columbus.
CMR and Qualtronics wanted to maintain a close relationship with its customers in Lafayette and Columbus, Daly said.
Company officials looked for a location on the south side of Indianapolis, and Hancock County officials convinced them to choose Greenfield.
The joint venture was to employ 43 and pay an average salary of $43,000, including benefits.
Daly said the figure was skewed by a higher number of management-level employees that would have worked in the Greenfield plant.
Daily also said Qualtronics is studying how much to pay Columbus employees to remain competitive, but he said the company is paying less than $43,000.
Close to customers
With the joint venture canceled, Qualtronics plans to stay in the Columbus area to retain its employees and to remain close to its largest customer.
Qualtronics was the second company in November that announced it planned to leave Columbus. Plastic parts maker Makuta Technics Inc., plans to build a new 20,000-square-foot building in Shelbyville’s Intelliplex Park.
Columbus Economic Development Board President Brooke E. Tuttle said, “Columbus had little influence over (Qualtronics’) original decision to move to Greenfield just as we had little influence on their decision to stay in this area.
“We are very happy Qualtronics will be staying and expanding in this area and we are working with closely with them.
“However, their final location will be a business decision based on land costs, labor costs and other business costs.
“We will do everything possible within reason to keep them in Bartholomew County.”
Daly also said that a comment he made to the Greenfield Reporter, which first reported the joint venture, has been misunderstood.
Daly had said that the joint venture company chose Greenfield partially, because “the people in this area have a good work ethic,” which, Daly said, people have misinterpreted to mean that people in Columbus lack a good work ethic.
“There was never a problem with the work ethic in Bartholomew County,” he said.