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For more than a century, Carlisle & Finch Co. searchlights have helped sailors lead their boats through treacherous waters. Now, the company's third-generation owners are trying to avoid danger themselves, while steering their business through uncharted territory.
The Finch family is going global. Over the last two years, the 35-employee firm has doubled international sales, with much of the growth driven by an Internet catalog, www.carlislefinch.com, which generates about 15 new sales leads a week. The company also has tapped new markets in Europe and Asia by establishing new relationships with distributors and traveling to overseas trade shows. Last year, the company's overseas marketing efforts yielded about $800,000 in revenue, and it's growing at 15 to 20 percent per year.
But the overseas efforts have brought new problems for Carlisle & Finch. Rapidly growing European conglomerates are now targeting North America. And the strength of the U.S. dollar has caused new pricing pressures, chipping away at profitability.
"We're getting competition now in North America that we never had before," said Garth Finch, who runs the Winton Place fight maker with his brother, Kurt, and father, Brent.
"For many years we were the only game in town," he said.
Global competition is producing similar competitive strains at companies across the Tri-State. Figures from the U.S. Commerce Department show Cincinnati exports grew 71 percent between 1993 and 1998, to nearly $6.7 billion. For the most part, local companies have demonstrated an adaptability to rapidly changing world markets, said Rene Thomas, international marketing manager for the Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.
Thomas thinks the adaptability of local firms stems from the diversity of the TriState economy.