LOGANSPORT —
A company out of Wisconsin has bought the former Carlisle Brake & Friction building at 1441 Holland St. in Logansport.
Chris Butzen, president of Great Lakes Friction Products, said his company bought the real estate, the building and its contents. The company plans to have the facility operating in the next four to eight weeks, but company officials intend to take their time getting established.
“The number of employees is going to start small,” Butzen said. “As we build a customer base for our product, we’ll increase our employees as necessary.”
There are 16 employees at the company’s Wisconsin facility. Butzen did not want to make a prediction on how many jobs would be created in Logansport, but he said he expected the number to be higher than 16.
“Down here, I would expect over time that we would have significantly more,” he said.
Carlisle Brake & Friction announced in October 2009 that it would close its Logansport facility and leave more than 100 employees without jobs. The Bloomington-based company ceased operation in Logansport a year later.
Butzen said the closure left a void in the market and a hole in the supply chain for Great Lakes, which bought a majority of its friction material from Carlisle.
The company researched the possibilities of producing what Carlisle stopped making, but to start from scratch would cost too much. Butzen said they worked out an agreement with Carlisle that included production lines.
“With all the equipment in place, it made it much more affordable to do,” Butzen said.
Now, the firm intends to seize on reports that companies are not happy with Carlisle alternatives. Butzen said there were issues with quality, delivery and shortage of material.
“We think the opportunity is there to maybe win back some of these customers that Carlisle had,” Butzen said.
The company will make friction products used in brake and clutch applications for non-automotive markets, such as lawn and garden equipment, agriculture and cranes and hoists.
Asked why he picked Logansport, Butzen said, “The facility has the equipment necessary to make the products we want to make. You have the employees available who have the skills we need.”
Butzen said his company hoped to hire “some or many” of the past Carlisle employees. That hiring, though, will be handled by a staffing agency that has yet to be determined.
Nolan “Skip” Kuker, president of the Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation, said applications were not currently being accepted. He said the company would announce those details once the facility gets closer to operation.
Butzen said a small group of key people would be meeting in Logansport this weekend to begin formulating a plan to get the plant operating and to name the facility.
The place needs to be cleaned and updated, he said, and machines need to be inspected and repaired.
“We don’t want to make commitments to customers and get machines up and running and have them fail,” Butzen said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at 574-732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com.
Local News
Related Photos
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TALKING BUSINESS: On the left, Nolan “Skip” Kuker, president of the Logansport-Cass County Economic Development Foundation, discusses what the local airport offers with Chris Butzen, president of Great Lakes Friction Products. Butzen, a pilot, is in Logansport this week making preparations to resume production at the former Carlisle Brake & Friction building. P-T photos | Kevin Lilly
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NEW OWNER: A company out of Wisconsin called Great Lakes Friction Products has bought the former Carlisle Brake & Friction building at 1441 Holland St. P-T photos | Kevin Lilly
Discussion
Former Carlisle building sold
New owner hopes to be in operation by October.
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