Berkshire Anodizing Celebrates New Venture
 Berkshire Anodizing owner Arthur Grodd, right, jokes with sales manager Allen Nadler. Grodd bought the plant in January. |
The former Modern Aluminum Anodizing was rescued from three-year bankruptcy by its purchase in late January by Arthur Grodd of Northampton. Grodd and his team had been working with the Sigsbury family and bankruptcy court for months setting in place a deal that would include all the assets and the 40-odd workers as well.
"We're thrilled to be here, we love the Berkshires and we love the people that we're working with," said Grodd, shortly after Mayor Richard Alcombright clipped through an aluminum ribbon stretched in front of the sign. "Business has been good and we expect and trust that it will get better."
Berkshire Anodizing took over the 96,000-square-foot facility on Jan. 26, paying $600,000 for the property. Grodd also owns several concerns in the Springfield area, including sheet-metal fabricator SMJ Metal Co.
The plant, considered large in the industry, takes raw aluminum and finishes it with a color or clear protective coat to ensure it doesn't corrode.
"We do about a quarter of a million pounds a month right now," said Ken Sigsbury, son of former owner Frank Sigsbury. "We have one shift working 10 hours a day, four days a week, so we have a lot of open capacity."
The younger Sigsbury is staying on with the new company and, while well versed in the technical and quality side, expects his role to turn more toward sales because of the many customer relationships he's made over the years.
The customers are primarily aluminum extruders, he said. "They take like a 'log' of aluminum, they heat it up and push it through a die and can make it look like anything you want ... it's like when you're a kid and you had a Play-Doh set."
 The facility puts a protective coat on aluminum piece. Here, pipes are being taken off a drying rack. |
The extruders' association is pulling together a class action suit against their toughest competitor, China, which they say has been dumping cheap aluminum and undercutting American companies. A similar action in Canada brought results, said Sigsbury.
"If they win this suit, it's really going to stimulate aluminum markets in the U.S. because they're going to get all that business back and there's going to be enough work for everybody," said Sigsbury.
Allen Nadler, who is sales manager (among other responsibilities), agreed.
"A lot of what we do is tied to construction work, architectural work and we're starting to see an uptick in that business," he said. "Again, the demand hasn't been fulfilled yet because people have held off on construction.
"Our biggest competitor is China," said Nadler, adding that Berkshire Anodizing and other American companies may not be able to match the cheap prices but can offer superior service and quality. "The other side is China's not going to get that to you ... What's your quality standard?"
Nadler and Grodd think there's a turnaround coming in the economy and are optimistic about the future.
Alcombright, speaking earlier, said the purchase of the plant "is proof that we can still sustain manufacturing." The mayor has been a booster for the potential for light manufacturing to return to the region and plans for the city to take a more active role in persuading ventures to settle here.
For Grodd's team, the potential was obvious.
"We saw a business that we didn't want to see fail," said Nadler.
