MIDDLESEX, N.J. (Aug. 10, 3:25 p.m. ET) — Koba Corp. President Joseph Koelmel recently retired at age 82, but the horticulture supplier of containers and accessories continues to follow the lead of its founders.
Koelmel and Franz Bach Sr. started the company in 1966 as a tool making operation but by 1968 decided to do the injection molding as well. Bach is replacing Koelmel as president and members of both families continue to stay involved in the company.
Koelmel's son Gordon is the sales manager, while his daughter-in-law Joan is the in-house sales manager and transportation manager. Franz Bach Jr. is the operations manager while his sister Ursula is the finance manager.
The company supplies greenhouses worldwide and has expanded its facility to over 30,000 square feet.
Franz Bach Jr. said that they are planning to add three retrofitted Demag presses by the fall. The newer machines will be 230, 250 and 400 tons. Two will replace older presses, so the new total of machines will be 21, ranging in size from 110 to 500 tons. They also replaced three machines last year.
“As my father says, when the economy is down, our business is up,” said Franz Bach Jr.
He also said that Koba continues to expand the number of molds that it has. It added three new molds last year and is planning to add three more.
The company continues to do research and development of the tooling needed to run the operations.