Insight on Business

Where can you find their work? SMT Inc. works with more than 100 customers, including Fortune 50 companies as well as smaller firms. They are also a certified ITAR company, which means they can design and manufacture products for the military. Products designed, engineered and manufactured by SMT include equipment for the medical, transportation, food service, controls and industrial industries. ONLINE: Click here to listen to Christopher Sumnicht, president and CEO, talk about the fast-paced growth at SMT. the corner of County Highway BB and County Highway CB in Grand Chute not long before the Sept. 11 attacks and the recession that followed. “We had committed before the attacks we were going to build here and then kept our word. We kept moving ahead, knowing that if we had the right facilities we would be able to drive more business,” Sumnicht says. “Business is sometimes a gamble. You take a chance and hope it works out. In our case, it did.” Sumnicht credits the company’s success on its ability to be flexible and meet customers’ needs in a timely fashion. Another boost to the company’s bottom line was becoming ITAR registered, which means it’s able to design and manufacture qualified military products (ITAR stands for International Traffic in Arms Regulations). “Since other customers know we are ITAR registered and that we’ve met those strict guidelines, it creates a level of comfort for them that we will be able to handle their sensitive and proprietary needs as well,” Vander Maazen says. SMT owns a total of 22 acres of land in the Grand Chute Southwest Industrial Park and Sumnicht envisions a day when SMT is double its current size. “We put 90 percent of company profits back into the and is also open to local entrepreneurs or inventors looking to bring their ideas to life. FVTC’s lab is part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Global Innovation Network. Mark Payne, an adjunct instructor at FVTC and president of Cygnus Product Development Corp., says SMT is the first company called if someone in the FAB LAB is working on a project needing an electronic component. “SMT has done a great job in providing design and building of a prototype for these smaller projects. The size of their organization is ideal to help these budding entrepreneurs,” he says. “SMT’s mission is to help create and get products to market and that fits perfectly with what we’re trying to do at the FAB LAB.” By assisting these start-ups, SMT is helping grow the local economy, Payne says. “SMT works hard to help local entrepreneurs be successful,” he says. Employees are another part of the growth strategy. When SMT constructed its original facility, instead of building by the highway the company located the facility in the back corner of the lot to take advantage of the views of the nearby woods and wetlands. “We want to create a pleasant environment for our employees,” Sumnicht says. Creating a pleasant environment for employees is integral to SMT’s 98.89 percent retention rate, Vander Maazen says. He While some companies put off expansions in the recession, SMT moved ahead and added 25,000 square feet of manufacturing space and renovated 6,000 square feet of space to better suit the needs of its engineering staff. company to make it better and make it grow. It actually was 100 percent of the profits until a few years ago,” he says. Finding a spark SMT also works with the area’s budding inventors and entrepreneurs at Fox Valley Technical College’s FAB LAB. The FAB LAB – also known as a Fabrication Lab – is a unique learning center that enhances students’ classroom experiences www. insightonbusiness .com says the company is also constantly recruiting for additional workers, especially engineers. “We’re definitely in a hiring mode,” he says. “The expansion definitely gives us a competitive advantage to better meet and exceed our customers’ expectations and requirements.” “We’re doing a lot of high-tech things here. … We’re like another Silicon Valley,” Sumnicht says. “I can only see more growth ahead.” July 2011 • INSIGHT | 35 4

• Cover