3657020

New Owner for Premier Tool & Die

3657020

After several weeks, and perhaps months, of deliberations, Premier Tool & Die of Berrien Springs and Dowagiac has changed hands, and is now a woman-owned, minority-owned small business venture. The new name of the business is now MV Metal Products & Solutions, with headquarters at 415 N. Paul Street in Dowagiac.

Premier President and Chief Operating Officer Paul Brancaleon says that the new CEO is Kamesh Venugopal. Venugopal has been a long term investor, and in the transformation of the company, which may well have saved the company from more dire circumstances, Venugopal has purchased all of the assets of the company, in a move that has a potential impact on potentially hundreds of employees there.  

Brancaleon has dispatched a letter to all vendors and suppliers promising that with the change "comes a financially stronger company with the ability to invest in our equipment, processes, and improve our technology."  The letter also assures those vendors, suppliers and customers that their relationships will continue, but notes, "For all of us to stay competitive in this market we need to purchase products and services at the highest quality and best prices so we can stay competitive in supplying products to our customers."

Premier Tool & Die Cast Corporation grew exponentially in the 53 years since the company was launched in 1963. The company has employed hundreds of people, as one of the largest die casters in the region with operations on Tudor Road in Berrien Springs more recently in Dowagiac. The company serves a broad array of customers in many industries including second tier automotive, heavy truck, agriculture, appliance, military, homeowner equipment and telecommunications industries. 

ADVERTISEMENT
Your content continues below

The aluminum and zinc die caster boasts nearly 30 high pressure aluminum die cast machines, incorporating the latest technology for high volume, top quality output. In addition to two die casting plants, the company also has a CNC machining facility and a tooling & research facility in Southwest Michigan and in Lakewood, New York. Starting out with a 31,000 square foot plant in Berrien Springs, multiple expansion projects over the years created a manufacturing space that now exceeds 156,000 square feet in Berrien Springs alone.

Early indications are that much of the company's work is being consolidated into its newer property in Dowagiac. Employees of Premier were given letters telling them, "Effective September 30, 2016, your employment with Premier Tool & Die Cast Corporation will terminate, and you will thereafter become an employee of MV Metal Products & Solutions, LLC." The letter goes on to say, "Your employment with MV Metal Products & Solutions, LLC will be 'at-will,' which means that either you or MV Metal Products & Solutions, LLC may terminate the employment relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice."

The letter additionally promises that the new owners will be evaluating and analyzing policies and practices used in the past with the goal of identifying those policies and practices that are working, and those which need improvement or refinement.

Associates at the plants have been told that during the evaluation period and pending implementation of a new employee handbook, the new company "will, for the most part, continue operating in the same manner to which you have become accustomed."

Exactly how many employees will be needed in the new firm and where they will settle when the evaluations are complete is largely up in the air at this point. Early on in the proceedings, at least one employee reported being told that the Berrien Springs facilities would be closed, however when I reached out to Brancaleon at that point he said that all decisions were still fluid.

While Brancaleon has confirmed that transfer of ownership effective two days ago and shared his vendor letter with me, I am still awaiting answers to a couple of other questions to help define the future of what has been a highly successful tool and die operator who hit some kinks in the road in recent years and has been working to resolve those to the best of their abilities. Stay tuned for more as the situation continues to evolve. 


 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

*