Minnesota Industries was started in 1986, in Chisholm, Minnesota, in the heart of Minnesota’s Iron Range. What started as a fastener supply company for the iron ore and taconite mines has now grown to a full-line MRO supplier to all industries.
“The company is now run by the second generation,” explained Vice President Jamie Whitbeck. “With offices in Chisholm, International Falls and Ishpeming, Michigan, we’re well situated to service the regional mines as well as other industries, including paper, forest products, rail lines, and other large manufacturing businesses.”
These customers include PCA Paper, Marvin Windows, Polaris, KeeTac, Cleveland Cliffs and Burlington Northern.
For large companies, having high quality MRO (maintenance, repairs and operations) supplies readily available is critical to success. MRO items include shop supplies, fasteners, filters, safety supplies, wear products and material handling equipment. Maintaining adequate inventories of supplies is a time- and cash-flow sensitive part of the business, and purchasing managers in those companies have come to rely on Minnesota Industries to manage inventories of parts and supplies without causing business interruption or large cash flow commitments.
“When other banks aborted their relationship with companies associated with mining, Grand Rapids State Bank stuck with us. That loyalty has not, and will not, be forgotten,” Jamie explained.
This coming January will mark two years since Adam Lantz, Mike Swanger and Jamie acquired the business by assuming the business debt from the previous owners. The trio of owners have each worked for the company more than 20 years. The fourth member of the executive team is Paul Janssen, the company’s chief financial officer; he had worked for the previous ownership group in that role, and the new owners trust his experience and insights.
“We have 25 employees, and four of them have been with the company their entire career,” Jamie continued. “We are well-known for providing summer jobs for high school or tech school kids, and that’s been a good way to get some insight into their work ethic. We believe our employee base is a huge competitive advantage: their familiarity and relationships with our customers is critical.”
“Over the years, we’ve had good luck hiring people with a mining background, but it turns out that hiring people who want to live in this area makes for a very good fit,” Jamie continued. “We were very busy during COVID, and the pace has only increased since then. We’ve been fortunate to see annual sales growth for each of the past five years, and our team plays a huge role in that success.”