I regularly read the Weekly Report of Whitewater’s city manager. I feel that I’m being helpful by doing so; if I stopped, average readership would likely fall by a third.
In the July 8th edition, there’s mention of a new business, Simonswerk, that’s bringing a few jobs to our business park.
A few are better than none. (Winkhaus, a German maker of door and window parts, having departed with no fanfare at all, is a fading memory.)
No matter:
Willkommen, Simonswerk!
The city manager links to a story about Simonwerk’s arrival, and to that company’s press release.
Sensibly, he chose not to re-publish the press release in full. It’s just odd. The release has been reproduced elsewhere, but one cannot imagine why anyone would do so except to tease — it’s a combination of awkward English, grandiose declarations, and at least one typo.
(About that probable typo: the title of the release declares “SIMONSWERK – THE LEADING MANUFACTURER ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA.” One presumes that the company inadvertently omitted ‘OF ADJUSTABLE DOOR HINGES’ after ‘THE LEADING MANUFACTURER.’ Alternatively, the omission may be a consequence of overweening pride, or simply a declaration that door hinges are as important as cars, airplanes, etc. One learns something new every day.)
Millions — millions — in grants to Whitewater, with the express goal of creating a thousand new jobs to replace those lost to flooding, and decline of the auto industry, but instead it’s shuffling existing public employees from another town to our tech park, and putting a door-hinge concern in the business park.
I’m teasing about the release, but the real problem here is a problem of public policy: that for so much in grants, bond indebtedness, and taxes, this community has accumulated mostly press releases, headlines, and endless talk about accumulating still more headlines.
Here’s the text of the release:
SIMONSWERK – THE LEADING MANUFACTURER ANNOUNCES OPENING OF NEW FACILITY IN NORTH AMERICA
SIMONSWERK, a world-renowned manufacturer of adjustable door hinges, is continuing its international expansion by establishing a new subsidiary in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The German company is a leading European manufacturer of heavy duty, high performance and premium hinges and has produced hinge systems for 120 years. SIMONSWERK serves more than 60 international markets and has representation in 19 countries including their own subsidiaries in the UK, Russia, Poland and Germany. The SIMONSWERK Group globally generates with its 500 employees annual sales of approximately $100 million.
New Facility
SIMONSWERK’s new facility in Whitewater, Wisconsin, will be their North American headquarters and distribution center. Rudy Kessler, CEO of the Whitewater facility stated, “SIMONSWERK takes pride in their modern, high quality products, which made their success and this expansion possible. We are very excited about this move.” The North American subsidiary plans to be fully operational and provide customers with a complete line of inventory by July, 2011.
SIMONSWERK was the first company that offered adjustable hinges to the North American marketplace. During the course of the last three decades, SIMONSWERK has supplied adjustable hinges to patio door manufacturers, such as well-established manufacturers like Eagle, Jeld-Wen, Kolbe, Loewen, Marvin, and Weather Shield, just to name a few.
SIMONSWERK’s CEO, Rudy Kessler, anticipates a productive and cooperative business relationship with the Whitewater Technology Park, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and the Whitewater Chamber of Commerce. The City Manager Kevin Brunner and the Community Development Authority made SIMONSWERK feel welcome to locate their North American headquarters in Whitewater. Although the company creates in a first stage only a handful of new jobs in Whitewater, this might change depending on the success of the business and the recovery of the overall economy. The speed of the revival from the current recession and the health of the overall economy will determine further employment opportunities at the Whitewater distribution center.
The German company is also excited to have its door hardware products become a central component to the building and designing communities in the United States and Canada. The new subsidiary believes in partnering with designers and architects, window and door manufacturers and hardware distributors to create attractive, energy efficient products that will meet the building needs of businesses and companies across North America. SIMONSWERK’s high-end products are used in prominent buildings all over the world. One of the most well-known projects where their adjustable concealed hinge system, TECTUS(R), has been used was the Armani hotel in the Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Currently the tallest building in the world is the Burj Khalifa, which cost over $800 million to build and has received excellent feedback from architects worldwide.