Badger Alloys, Inc.
Address: 5120 W. State St., Milwaukee
Year founded: 1966
Product or service offered: Badger Alloys is a family-owned and operated ferrous and nonferrous foundry that specializes in custom castings. From pattern construction or modification to casting to finish machining, Badger Alloys offers a single-source responsibility to assure that every job is produced to customers’ exacting requirements.
Projected 2014 revenue: Not disclosed.
President and CEO: Robert Cowen
Target clientele: Badger Alloys serves customers in the pump and valve, chemical, water, energy, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, industrial, and defense industries. Customers range in size from local small businesses to Fortune 500 companies located across the country and throughout the world.
Business organization memberships: Steel Founders’ Society of America, American Foundry Society, Young Presidents Organization, GPS Education Partners, Junior Achievement participant, MMAC, Manufacturing Career Partnership
What has fueled your company’s growth? “Rob Cowen and his leadership team have embraced an entrepreneurial spirit that has stimulated growth in the company even during the recent economic downturn. The company has achieved growth by taking calculated risks and reinvesting in the company; strengthening the local economy by buying locally, respecting the environment and investing in sustainability efforts; supporting local workforce development through programs like GPS Education Partners; engaging in research and development; maintaining high customer retention through superior service delivery; and surrounding leadership with talented employees and advisers and treating them well.”
Do you plan to make any changes in your company in the coming months? “Based on current orders and pipeline projections, Badger Alloys predicts that it will increase revenue by an additional 20-plus percent in the next two years. As a result, it anticipates creating 35 new jobs by the end of 2014, an increase of 35 percent in two years.”
What is your company’s most important growth strategy right now? “Reinvestment is an ongoing growth strategy for Badger Alloys. In fact, Rob Cowen’s advisers commend him for his ‘courage to make investments that not only improve his business but support other local companies.’ For example, the company recently invested in a sand reclamation unit that benefited the company, the environment, and the local economy. The unit allows the diversion of 17 million pounds of sand from landfills annually, and eliminates more than 100,000 truck miles per year in sand transportation. The majority of the purchases related to the million-plus-dollar initiative were made with Midwestern companies and contractors. Badger Alloys also is committed to modernization and keeping its operations state-of-the-art. The company recently invested in a solidification modeling system to analyze gating systems and determine how castings will solidify. This $120,000+ investment has allowed Badger Alloys to research better ways of producing a casting without the waste of trial-and-error methods.”
