Kurz-Kasch Inc., which traces its roots back to 1916 and was an early molder of Bakelite, is consolidating operations into a new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Miamisburg, Ohio.
The company will shut down operations in Indiana and Virginia and move the work to Ohio. Miamisburg will be the corporate home for Kurz-Kasch's sales, engineering, customer service and supply-chain management operations.
A vacated space that once housed a CEVA Logistics parts sequencing plant for General Motors Corp. will be its new home.
``When we were looking to consolidate — Ohio definitely did very well for us. Miamisburg is the next town down from Dayton,'' George Kochanowski, chief executive officer of Kurz-Kasch, said in a Dec. 3 telephone interview.
The company worked with state and local officials and recently received a $150,000 Rapid Outreach grant by the Ohio Department of Development. The state said the project could create 200 jobs within three years.
The new HQ will use about 100,000 square feet of a 200,000-square-foot building and has room for growth as needed.
Kochanowski said the consolidation process has been done in steps. The new location will be fully operational by late January.
Wil Conner, director of sales, said the new operation will turn the company into more of a solutions provider, beginning with design and engineering and ending with the finished product.
``We're very cautiously optimistic and keeping our eye on the economy. Everything we make we are the sole source supplier and we have a blue-ribbon list of customers,'' Kochanowski said.
The company designs and makes electromagnetic components for heavy-duty diesel engines and engineered composite components for aerospace, consumer product, automotive and electrical distribution.
Kurz-Kasch supplies plastic components for automotive transmissions used by the Big Three carmakers. It also makes coils, stators, sensing devices and solenoids.
Kochanowski said the consolidation process was done by working with customers to build inventory before shutting down plants and then moving its pertinent machinery and manufacturing cells to Miamisburg.
The company announced in September that it would close facilities in Wabash, Ind., and South Boston, Va. Both are scheduled to close by the end of the year. Earlier in the year, it shut operations in De Land, Fla., and Lexington, Ga.
He said the closures affected about 100 jobs. Many were offered help to relocate and ``a good number have decided to come here.''
Kurz-Kasch facilities in Wilmington and Newcomerstown, Ohio, will not be affected by the consolidation. The company also has a facility in Jaguariúna, Brazil.
New York investment firm Monomoy Capital Partners LP acquired the company in February 2007.