The Prestwick Group Inc., an Oconomowoc-based manufacturer, will move to a 55,000 square foot facility in Sussex by the end of the year. The company purchased the building at W248 N5499 Executive Dr. for $3.9 million from T&L Real Estate LLC.

The facility was formerly home to Valeo, a manufacturer of workplace safety and exercise accessories, which was acquired in 2007 by Younkers, N.Y.-based EB Sports Group LLC.

The company manufacturers a suite of plastic and wooden products for golf courses, including towel stations, recycling bins, trash containers, planter boxes, beverage stations, and lounge seats. The Prestwick Group’s plastic products are made using recycled plastic milk jugs – it estimates that it has reclaimed 54 million of them since it began manufacturing in 1997.

The company is currently based in about 40,000 square feet of space, which it moved to in 2006.

“This move will allow us the opportunity to expand our current operations within a state-of-the-art facility in the Sussex community,” said Matt Morse, president and CEO of The Prestwick Group.

The Prestwick Group has 54 employees. Although it declined to disclose its sales projections for 2009 and 2010, a spokesperson told BizTimes that the company has recently seen an increase in orders.

“We’ve had five record setting months and hope we’re headed for a sixth,” said Garett Laugavitz, marketing coordinator with the company.

For more, visit http://www.prestwick-group.com.

Construction on the new 160,000 square foot Charter Wire manufacturing facility in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley was recently completed by Nashotah-based MSI General

Charter Wire is in the process of moving its operations from 114 N. Jackson Street in Milwaukee’s Third Ward, where it has been located for more than 70 years.

Construction began in August 2008, with occupancy occurring in September 2009.

The company began moving some of its machinery to the new facility this spring, while it was still under construction.

“Our process will take quite a bit of time. Our goal is to be under one roof by end of the year,” John W. Mellowes, general manager of Charter Wire, told BizTimes previously.

The existing Charter Wire facility at 114 N. Jackson St. in the Historic Third Ward is 175,000 square feet. Although the new facility will be 15,000 square feet smaller than the current building, the company will have a much more functional layout for manufacturing.

“The 160,000 (square feet) feels a lot larger than the 175,000 here (in our current facility),” Mellowes said. “We’ve been on this site for 70 years, and the walls don’t move, but the manufacturing process has to. This is a great opportunity to get quite a bit more efficient with our processes.”

Modine to close Kentucky facility

Racine-based Modine Manufacturing Co., has announced its intention to close its manufacturing facility in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. The closure is expected to impact approximately 110 employees.

Modine will transfer production from the 253,452 square-foot plant to other facilities in North America to consolidate regional production. The Harrodsburg plant makes radiators, round tube plate fin heat exchangers and HVAC modules for the commercial vehicle and off-highway markets.

Plans call for the plant to close over an approximate six- to nine-month period.

“Closing operations is never easy,” said Scott Bowser, Modine regional vice president – Americas. “The difficult decision to close Harrodsburg was based upon our ongoing review and analysis of Modine’s global product lines. This analysis resulted in our decision to strategically de-emphasize our vehicular HVAC presence, which has been a core product line in Harrodsburg. Closing the plant will help us rationalize production, achieve the scale we need in our manufacturing operations and improve our overall profitability and competitiveness.”

Generac plans stock offering

Privately held Generac Holdings Inc. intends to become a publicly traded company.

The Waukesha-based manfucturer of portable residential generators announced last week that it has filed a registration statement for a public offiering of its common stock with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Generac intends to sell its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "GNRC."

Generac was founded in 1959 in entrepreneur Robert Kern's Waukesha garage. Kern, who sold a controlling stake of the company in 2006 to CCMP Capital Advisors LLC, a Manhattan-based private equity firm, received the BizTimes Bravo! Entrepreneur Award in 2006.

J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. and Goldman, Sachs & Co. will be joint book running managers of the stock offering.

The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the preliminary prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from: J.P. Morgan Securities at National Statement Processing, Prospectus Library, 4 Chase Metrotech Center, CS Level, Brooklyn, New York, NY, 11245, Phone: (718) 242-8002; or Goldman, Sachs & Co., Attn: Prospectus Department, 85 Broad Street, New York, NY 10004, Phone (866) 471-2526 or Prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com.

Briggs & Stratton lost $8.7 million in quarter

Declining consumer demand for portable generators and products with small engines prompted Briggs & Stratton Corp. to incur a net loss of $8.7 million, or 18 cents per share, in its fiscal first quarter, which was worse than a net loss of $2.0 million, or 4 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

The Milwaukee-based manufacturer's quarterly net sales declined to $324.6 million from $458.1 million a year earlier.

The company said the increase in its net loss of $6.7 million was primarily the result of lower sales volumes in both reportable segments and a less favorable effective tax rate, partially offset by lower production costs and operating expenses.

The reduction in engine unit volume was attributable to consumer demand for lawn and garden equipment that was softer than that experienced in the same period a year ago and the decrease in demand for engines for portable generators due to the lack of landed hurricanes this year compared with the activity experienced in the first quarter last year.

The company continues to project that its fiscal 2010 net income will be in the range of $40 million to $50 million, or 80 cents to $1.01 per diluted share. Consolidated net sales are projected to be lower between years primarily due to the absence of hurricane-related sales of portable generators and selected price reductions to reflect projected lower commodity costs.

The company's production levels for substantially all products are planned to be lower in fiscal 2010 due to a decrease in its investment in working capital.

Twin Disc still feeling recession's pain

Twin Disc Inc. recorded a fiscal first quarter net loss of $2.4 million, or 22 per share, compared with net earnings of $2.5 million, or 22 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.

The Racine-based company's sales for the latest quarter fell to $47.1 million from $72.7 million a year ago.

The decline in sales was due to the continued impact the global recession is having on the company's markets, the seasonally weak first quarter and shutdowns at the company's Italian, Belgian and Racine manufacturing facilities.

Twin Disc designs, manufactures and sells marine and heavy-duty off-highway power transmission equipment. Products offered include: marine transmissions, surface drives, propellers and boat management systems, as well as power-shift transmissions, hydraulic torque converters, power take-offs, industrial clutches and control systems.

Shipments to the mega yacht, industrial, and oil and gas markets remained weak during the fiscal 2010 first quarter.

Michael Batten, chairman and chief executive officer, said, "The global recession that we began to experience in the second half of fiscal 2009 continued to impact our results in the first quarter. As announced previously, we implemented temporary plant shutdowns along with government sponsored layoffs, in addition to normal seasonal actions, to adjust production levels to near term demand, which had a negative impact on absorption rates. Tight controls on spending and other cost reduction initiatives helped offset the impact of the decline in volume."

Twin Disc's stock dropped this morning by $1.54 to trade at $13.08.

Milwaukee 'up-and-comers' earn spots on Forbes list

Badger Meter Inc., Ladish Co. and Twin Disc Inc. have been named among the "200 Best Small Companies" by Forbes magazine.

Milwaukee-based Badger Meter ranked 97th on the list, while Cudahy-based Ladish ranked 107th and Racine-based Twin Disc ranked 130th.

The magazine said the companies rank among the "top-performing, publicly held up-and-comers."

"We are very pleased to once again receive this national recognition for our strong performance. Our focus on flow measurement technology and managing for the long term have generated overall positive financial results," said Richard Meeusen, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Badger Meter.

The Forbes magazine list of the 200 Best Small Companies is based on performance for one-year and five-year periods as measured by earnings growth, sales growth and return on equity.

Milwaukee electrical distributor expands into Indianapolis market

Vision Control & Automation, a division of Milwaukee-based Standard Electric Supply Co., has acquired the Indianapolis location of Ohio-based distributor Richards Electric.

Vision is a family-owned electrical distributor with four locations serving Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana and $6 million in annual sales.

Larry Stern, president of Vision, said, "Vision's goal as an electrical distributor is not only to deliver quality products on time, but also to help customers reduce their overall operating costs and increase productivity. Our new Indianapolis location also establishes Vision's commitment to become the Midwest's leading distributor of ABB products."

In addition to ABB products, Vision will also stock complimentary products in Indianapolis from suppliers such as Rittal Enclosures, Brady, Red Lion, Woodhead, Thomas & Betts and several others.

Further solidifying Vision's strength in the marketplace is its recent opening of a location in Chicago to provide industrial customers with enhanced support of ABB products.

The Granville-Brown Deer Chamber will host the seminar “Water: The New Wisconsin Gold Mine,” hosted by Richard Meeusen, Badger Meter president and CEO, on Tuesday, Oct. 27 at 11 a.m. at the Four Points By Sheraton Milwaukee North, 8900 N. Kildeer Court, Brown Deer. Advanced tickets are $20 for chamber members and $25 for nonmembers. Tickets for a table of eight are available for $150. Registration on the day of the event will be $30. The registration deadline is Oct. 22. Register at www.granvillebrowndeerchamber.org, or call (414) 357-5493.