Carris expansions boost sales

Vermont Business Magazine, Jan 1994 by Bell, Mary Day

Steady sales growth over three years at Carris Reels of West Rutland is due to several plant acquisitions, new product lines, a greater share of the market and higher pricing, company President William Carris said recently.

Net sales of $67 million in 1993 increased 40 percent over 1991 net sales of $48 million; 1992 sales were $60 million.

"We are a packaging business for wire and cable manufacturers. We have expanded product lines to offer more in the way of one-stop shopping for cable people ... to cover all of their needs, from 3.5-inch plastic reels to 10-foot wooden cable reels," he said.

Recent acquisitions and new operations include: The Wood Fabricator Division in Madera, CA, where large cable reels are made; a small tin-spool operation that was moved to Rutland; a new line of reel bolts used in production of Carris reels; and, a major step in diversification, production of plastic reels, extruded plastic tubing and some custom plastic molding.

"Plastic production is largely reels, but I do want to grow outside sales in plastic," Carris said.

Addition of the plastics line to Carris's North Carolina plant has increased the company's market share in the South and mid-South portions of the United States, and a new finishing assembly facility in Michigan is expected to help reach Midwestern markets, Carris said.

Price increases were related to higher lumber costs.

Eighty-five percent of sales were related to reels, with end customers being wire and cable companies producing cable for communications and power transmissions. Current employment, company-wide, stands at 550 workers.

Carris' reels are marketed primarily in the continental United States with some sales in Mexico from the California plant. The sales openings came before the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA), Carris said, but he agreed that Mexico needs infrastructure, and, "It is good for us to have a presence there."

Whether Carris might open a Mexican facility in the future, he could not say, but commented that any gains from cheaper labor in Mexico would be offset by the cost of shipping waste materials, and the California plant was well located to serve Mexican markets.

In addition to the new facilities, Carris has three operations in Rutland, where plywood, plastic and metal reels are made, and an Enfield, CT, plant where large cable reels are made. Killington Wood Products of West Rutland, which makes wood pallets, and Vermont Tubbs, a furniture manufacture with plants in Rutland and Forest Dale, are subsidiaries.

Carris said he had no more acquisitions in mind at present, but the operations in Madera and at Vermont Tubbs are running out of space, and a small expansion is in progress at Killington Wood.

"Yes, we will expand in the future ... I'm always looking for opportunities," he said.

Vermont Tubbs is showing steady growth, with sales at $6 million in 1993 and about 90 employees. The furniture is handcrafted of solid hardwood, offering good quality and value and the "Made in Vermont" label, an asset in markets including LL Bean and area furniture stores.

Henry M Carris, father of the present chief executive officer, began making plywood reels 45 years ago. "He built a nice company that we have expanded," Carris said.

As for doing business in Vermont, "Vermont has a great labor force," Carris said.

But the permit process is slow here, on a par with California and much less efficient than in North Carolina and Michigan, he said.

The bottom line is things are going well at Carris Reels: "We have a great group of people," Carris said.

Mary Day Bell is a freelance writer from Pownal.