Oshkosh Truck subsidiary lands another military contract
JLG Industries Inc., a Pennsylvania-based access equipment subsidiary of Oshkosh Corp., was recently awarded a $24.7 million military contract.
The company will manufacture 197 JLG Millennia Military Vehicle (MMV) telescopic material handlers for the U.S. Navy. The order was awarded by the Defense Supply Center of Philadelphia.
"Oshkosh Corp. continues to support the military efforts through our industry-leading brands. This contract for additional JLG MMV telehandlers will provide the U.S. Navy Seabees Construction Battalion with essential equipment to perform their duties with greater safety, performance and comfort," said Robert Bohn, chairman and chief executive officer of Oshkosh Corp., which recently changed its name from Oshkosh Truck Corp.
Oshkosh manufacturer receives TechZone tax credits
Marvel Manufacturing Company Inc., an Oshkosh based manufacturer of metal cutting machines, will receive $250,000 in TechZone tax credits in return for installing new equipment and creating 43 new positions over a five-year period and retaining 125 full-time jobs. The expansions represent more than $2 million in investment.
"As we grow our business in the Oshkosh area we remain committed to our first premise that we will remain the leader in metal cutting, by means of offering the most technologically advanced product available in today’s marketplace," said John Petek, CEO of Marvel. "We thank our employees, the surrounding business community, and our business partners for making this possible."
Brady Corp. is off to strong start for the year
Brady Corp., a Milwaukee-based provider of identification solutions, recently reported fiscal second quarter net income of $26.7 million, or 48 cents per share, up from $19.7 million, or 36 cents per share, in the same period a year ago.
The company’s sales for the quarter were up 13 percent to $364.1 million from $321.3 million a year earlier.
"We are pleased with our overall results for the quarter including good growth in net income and nice improvement in margins. Our profit improvements are a direct result of actions taken over the past year. A number of factors contributed to flat core growth, including a challenging economy in the U.S.," said Frank Jaehnert, Brady’s president and chief executive officer. "Recently, we consolidated leadership of our Direct Marketing & People Identification and Brady businesses in the Americas in order to bring greater consistency to our global management structure. Both businesses will now report to Matt Williamson, president, Brady Americas. This will further streamline and simplify our organization."
"I am very pleased to see the impact that our focus on working capital has had on operating cash flow generation which increased to $87.8 million from $37.1 million, up 137 percent year-to-date," said Brady chief financial officer Thomas Felmer. "We are continuing to focus on integrating acquisitions and streamlining our business to assure our cost structure is appropriate for the economic conditions, and rebalancing our business in Asia to focus on more proprietary and profitable segments. We reaffirm our guidance of sales from $1.43 to $1.46 billion and net income and diluted earnings per share of between $129 and $135 million, and $2.31 and $2.42 respectively."
Orion Energy System sells CO2 credits
Orion Energy Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:OESX) recently completed a sale of 2,000 tons of CO2 credits generated by a customer utilizing Orion’s energy efficient lighting system.
"We are very excited to have achieved this significant milestone with our HIF technology platform," said Neal Verfuerth, president and CEO of Orion Energy Systems. "Our goal has been to not only create a path for our customers to immediately reduce their lighting electricity costs by 50% while increasing light levels, but to ultimately monetize the emissions offsets resulting from the efficiency gains delivered by Orion’s HIF lighting system."
Orion replaced the customer’s existing high intensity discharge fixtures with its patented high intensity fluorescent lighting system. Orion’s energy efficient lighting system reduced this customer’s consumption of electricity by over 1.8 million kilowatthours
per year, resulting in annual energy savings of approximately $100,000. Over a three-year period, CO2 emissions were reduced by 2000 tons, measured and verified, based on the reduction in electricity demand from this project.
Pacific Sands sees growth, need to raise capital
Pacific Sands Inc., a Racine-based manufacturer of the "low chem" ecoOne lines of hot tub water treatment and cleaning solutions, recently posted its 14th quarter of same quarter growth. Pacific Sands’ stock is thinly traded over the NASDAQ stock index counter.
During the fourth quarter of 2007, Pacific Sands had $153,234 in net sales, with about $85,000 in gross profit, according to forms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The form also states that the company lost $158,211 during the fourth quarter, and $212,041 during the second half of 2007. A company release states that the losses were related to higher selling and administrative expenses resulting from stock based compensation in the form of options issued to officers and restricted common stock issued to officers and directors.
Pacific Sands moved to Racine in 2004, said Michael Michie, the company’s chief financial officer. Since then, Pacific Sands has grown to $600,000 annual sales from about $60,000.
The company has seven full-time and two part-time employees, Michie said.
"We’re real lean right now," he said. "We’ll probably have to hire one or two (employees) in the next year or two. But those will be determined by our growth trends."
If Pacific Sands is to grow, it will likely need to find additional sources of capital, its quarterly release states.
"The company’s ability to achieve its objectives is dependent on its ability to sustain and enhance its revenue stream and to continue to raise funds through loans, credit and the private placement of restricted securities until such a time as the company achieves profitability," the release says. "To date, management has been successful in raising cash on an as-needed basis for the continued operations of the company. There is no guarantee that management will be able to continue to raise needed cash in this fashion."
Janesville pen manufacturer grows through acquisition
Sanford Business to Business, a Janesville-based pen manufacturer, recently acquired the assets and intellectual property of The Quill Co. Inc., a pen manufacturer formerly based in Cranston, RI. Sanford LP, based in Oakbrook, IL is a unit of Newell Rubbermaid Inc., which is based in Atlanta, GA.
Sanford started accepting orders for Quill Co.’s pens on Feb. 1, and the company’s machinery will be installed in its Janesville plant by the end of the month. Production of the Quill pens is expected to be operational today, according to a Sanford release.
