Content area
Full Text
A new product line and the sale of one of its divisions last year is leading to growth at Lapp Insulator Co. LLC.
Since the sale of its bushing division to PCore Electric Co. Inc. in the summer of 2004, Lapp has focused on insulators, its core business.
"We have definitely turned the corner as a company compared to a few years ago," said Matthew Bailey, vice president of marketing and sales.
Founded in 1916, Lapp manufactures high-voltage insulators for the worldwide electric utility industry. Lapp's core businesses include ceramic and composite insulators for applications ranging from 15 to 7665 kilovolts.
In 1999, Lapp was purchased from Chicago-based Eagle Industries Inc. by current CEO John Hurshman. Yavuz Erkan, PCore's president, was part of that group, which was focused on returning the company to a leadership position in the market, Bailey said.
Eagle Industries, a holding company for various manufacturers in the utility industry, owned the company in the 1990s when Lapp employed some 600 local workers.
Bailey said, however, that Eagle was not focused on Lapp's long-term viability and used the company's profits to fund other companies. That put Lapp...