Mich. company to buy Elite Fire Appartus

Elite Fire Apparatus is in the process of being sold to a Michigan company which plans to restart operations at the Tilleda plant.

About eight to 10 people are scheduled to start work at the plant later this month, said Shane Williams, owner of Wolverine Fire Apparatus.

Williams said he spent last weekend at the plant, conducting interviews and hiring employees. Only one person declined a job offer.

“Everyone is happy to be coming back and putting out the quality they were putting out before,” Williams said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Wolverine was the winning bidder at an auction Friday for the defunct emergency vehicle manufacturer, according to a “Receiver’s Report of Sale” filed in Shawano County Circuit Court on Monday. A receiver was appointed for the financially-troubled company last November.

Wolverine bid $2.25 million for Elite’s assets, the report said. Six bidders attended the auction in Milwaukee, although about 10 had visited Elite’s facility at Tilleda.

“The more I looked at the facility, and the work in progress, the equipment there, and learned about the employee loyalty, I just thought it would be best for my company to purchase the company and open the doors,” Williams said.

Williams said he was urged to consider buying Elite by several former Elite dealers that still had contracts with the company and have since taken on Wolverine’s lines.

“Between the employees I met prior to making my bid, the dealerships, and the customers (with contracts) there’s a huge team atmosphere up there ... that wanted to make this happen, and that team effort is what made it happen,” Williams aid.

Wolverine Fire Apparatus, based in Union City, Mich., is “bursting at the seams,” with new business. He purchased the now-30-year-old company in 2004, and it has grown from a small mom-and-pop operation to having orders for more than 40 fire apparatus this year.

“Our facility is 15,000 square feet; it might be able to handle 30 trucks a year, so we needed something like Elite needed to happen,” Williams said.

“We set up many, many new dealers in the last year, but we were not keeping up with sales,” he added. “With the Elite purchase, we’ll get some orders moved up to Wisconsin.”

An even more important consideration was the availability of knowledgeable employees. There are no other fire apparatus manufacturers In southern Michigan, which means experienced workers aren’t available, he said. The company could to hire and train only one or two new employees at a time.

With former Elite employees in the region, “the experience level goes back 20, 25, 30 years,” Williams noted.

The Tilleda plant, at 66,000 square feet, has plenty of capacity, he said. The company plans to first finish any work in progress, then try to fulfill any other contracts Elite had.

A former Elite employee previously told the Leader that production at the plant had come to a near standstill last summer, although a skeleton crew was continuing to build equipment. The plant previously had about 60 to 70 employees.

Williams said he hopes employment at will increase and business grows.

“We’ve got eight to 10 coming back on the 18th and we’re going to go from there,” Williams said.

Shawano County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Grover appointed a receiver for Elite in November at the request of Associated Bank, N.A., of Green Bay, which said it was owed $5.55 million by Elite.

In a receivership, the assets of a company are placed under the control of a receiver who administers the assets for the court. The receiver manages the assets as well as can be to preserve their value so they can ultimately be sold for the benefit of the debtor’s creditors.

The state Department of Workforce Development filed a wage lien of $1.6 million against Elite Oct. 19 in Shawano County Circuit Court, to secure wages due employees or former employees of the company. DWD had received a business closing notification complaint on Oct. 11. Under state law, companies with 50 or more employees are required to provide 60 days notice if they are closing or will have a mass layoff, she said.

According to an order signed by Judge Thomas Grover approving the sale and clearing liens, claims and encumbrance, the receiver was authorized to place $115,000 in a trust account to resolve the DWD lien.

Also slated to receive proceeds from the sale were Cummins, an engine maker, for an amount to be determined, and Patrick Crawford, for $150,000 for his secured claim. The balance of the proceeds will be paid to Associated Bank.

A message left Wednesday afternoon with Steven Cerasoli, an Appleton attorney representing Associated Bank, was not returned by deadline.

Mich. company to buy Elite Fire Appartus

Elite Fire Apparatus is in the process of being sold to a Michigan company which plans to restart operations at the Tilleda plant.

St. Paul Lutheran receives grant from Thrivent for education, events

St. Paul Lutheran Church Bonduel has received a big boost to its plans to increase giving, education and ultimately its ministry.

Investigation continues into house fire cause

Investigators are still trying to determine the cause of a fatal fire in the town of Aniwa Tuesday night.

SMU votes to hire consultant

The Shawano Municipal Utilities Commission has lined up a temporary replacement for the utility’s outgoing general manager Andy Onesti.

Driver's decision proves poor choice

A suspected drunk driver chose the wrong driveway to pull into when he sought to avoid a patrol car behind him early Sunday morning.

Sex offender charged with failing to notify state of residence

A convicted sex offender whose last contact with the state's sex offender registry was almost a year ago was charged Monday with failure to notify the state of his whereabouts.