By Keith Gushard
10/01/07 — SADSBURY TOWNSHIP — Excalibur Machine Co. Inc. of Conneaut Lake and its affiliated manufacturing companies have a new name — CORE Manufacturing.
CORE is an acronym for Combining Organizations to Reach Excellence, said Eric Hoover, company president.
Hoover unveiled the new name Saturday night at the Iroquois Boating and Fishing Club during a celebration for his more than 300 employees.
The event also celebrated the firm’s ranking in “Inc. 5,000” — Inc. business magazine’s list of the 5,000 fastest growing privately owned firms in the U.S.
Excalibur ranked 837th on the overall list of 5,000 and 20th in the manufacturing category, according to Inc. The magazine said Excalibur’s revenue grew 411.9 percent from $2.4 million in 2003 to $12.2 million in 2006.
Hoover said he was proud of the accomplishment.
“We’re constantly looking at our growth,” he said.
However, the Inc. 5000 ranking just includes Excalibur sales, he said. It doesn’t factor in its manufacturing acquisitions of Sipco Molding Technologies of Meadville in October 2006; and Multi-Tool Inc. and Multi-Plastics Inc. of Saegertown and Multi-Plastics of New Mexico Inc. in Las Cruses, N.M., in April of this year.
If they would have been included, Excalibur’s ranking would have been higher, Hoover said.
Hoover is in negotiations to purchase another tooling and machining firm in the region, but he said it’s not in Crawford County.
As of today, all of the manufacturing firms now will be known as CORE Manufactur-ing, he said.
“I decided to go this route for awhile,” Hoover said of the name change. “I just didn’t know when it would be — whether it would be this year, next year or three years from now.”
The name change was developed in May and June by the firm’s marketing team of Mark Sippy and Tara Lawrence to reflect the unification of the companies, he said.
Multi-Tool, founded in 1974, designs and builds precision plastic injection molds used by the automotive and electronics industries. Multi-Plastics, established in 1980, is a custom injection molder and does work primarily serving electronics and consumer industries. Multi-Plastics New Mexico plant was established in 1998.
The three Multi entities have a total of 110 employees.
Excalibur, founded in 1988, makes large parts primarily for locomotives, rail cars, material handling systems and equipment for mining, glass handling and heavy construction. It and its affiliated firms have approximately 125 employees.
Sipco, founded in 1959, does design, mold building and precision machining and plastic parts manufacturing primarily for the medical and consumer products industries. It has about 85 employees.
Hoover also owns Lancelot Construction of Conneaut Lake, a residential and commercial builder and maker of custom cabinetry and furniture; and Camelot Consolidat-ed, a sales firm.
Those two firms will remain outside of CORE, he said.
DID YOU KNOW?
In 2006, Hoover was named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Small Business Person of the Year. Excalibur posted sales growth of more than 350 percent in about the past five years, according to the SBA.
Bright Hospitality joins ‘Inc. 5,000’ listing
TITUSVILLE — Bright Hospitality Inc. of Titusville also was named to Inc. magazine’s “Inc. 5,000” — a list of the 5,000 fastest growing privately owned firms in the U.S.
Bright Hospitality was ranked 4,392nd on the list, according to Inc. The magazine said Bright Hospitality’s revenue grew 47.7 percent from $4.2 million in 2003 to $6.2 million in 2006.
It is an Internet-based retailer founded in 2002 by Marc Templin of Townville.
It has various Web sites, under the umbrella of www.brightsettings.com, that sell products ranging from table linens to furniture for homes and businesses.
Also this year, Bright Hospitality was named one of the Top 500 Internet retailers in the U.S. by Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide.
