This past Tuesday’s Midwest Entrepreneurs class involved our second field trip of the semester; this one to the very outer limits of tiny Roseville, IL and the sprawling Fusion Tech Integrated compound.

As I wheeled one of the two Monmouth College mini-busses needed for the excursion onto the country road running in front of the firm’s facilities, I told the students: “Here, in the virtual middle of nowhere, you will find a world-class steel processing company.”

I was quickly corrected about my “middle of nowhere” assertion once inside with Fusion Tech General Manager Dan Bentz.

Rather than being in the “middle of nowhere,” Dan told us that he prefers to think of the company as being “in the middle of somewhere.” It was obvious after our tour through the various buildings and exposure to too many in-process innovative projects to count, that it is Fusion Tech’s being on the outer limits of Roseville that has indeed made it “in the middle of somewhere”; somewhere very important when it comes—as stated on the Fusion Tech webpage—to meeting customer needs encompassing “all areas of design, engineering, metal forming, fabrication and testing… we maintain process control from concept to completion.” See more at: http://www.ftiinc.org/.

I now turn the blog over to Midwest Entrepreneurs student Roger Stribling for further details of the fascinating Fusion Tech entrepreneurial story and our tour of the firm’s operations.

Prof. Gabel

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Tuesday we had the pleasure of not having an incredible speaker in class but going to the entrepreneur’s place of work and seeing firsthand the amazing work of yet another amazing Midwest Entrepreneur. We had the opportunity to visit Fusion Tech Integrated and learn about their business in person.

The company, which is a one-stop source for all metal design and fabrication needs, has grown to be a dominant force in their industry. The professional team is there to provide the services of facility designs, concept layouts, equipment detail design, and fabrication of equipment.

The great family-owned business was started in a two door garage in 1997.  It was started by Dan Bentz’s brother and father as Modern Engineering and Piping in Roseville, IL.  The company was then inherited by his brother, along with 88 acres of land.  It all started when they wanted to start making their own products because the old ones were having defects.  The company kept growing and by around 2001 they were able to put in their first shop.  After about two years they got their first piece of equipment to do their own cutting, and that was also when Dan came in to help with the family business.

In the year 2007 the company introduced the Fusion Tech part of the business.  Fusion Tech was the part that designed the projects, and Modern Engineering and Piping handled the servicing.  Eventually these two companies combined and were known as Fusion Tech.  The company was growing so fast that the local bank they were banking with for 5-6 years had to be left behind.  Now the company banks with Wells Fargo with a 1 million dollar line of credit.  Dan mentioned the credit line was needed because only 20% of the cost was paid at the beginning.  With the cost of the material and labor and other small costs, such as scraping, which was 15-20%, there wasn’t enough money to cover the costs.

In 2013, the firm got a 1.3 million dollar contract with a company they had previously lost due to lack of having a laser jet cutting machine.  The company was able to gain this client back when they got several laser machines.  The lesson learned here was to “never burn bridges” as an entrepreneur.  Dan Bentz could have easily forgotten about the company when Fusion Tech was at first rejected.  However, he did not and the other company eventually grew dissatisfied with the firm chosen over Fusion Tech to do the work.  Dan Bentz and Fusion Tech was there and waiting and got the business back.

Another important issue was that the company attained International Standards Organization (ISO) certification.  This certificate demonstrates that the company is an ethical environment and performs high quality work.  With this certification they are able to get the big food processing companies, which is one of their main focuses.

Today, Fusion Tech’s clients are mainly in the food processing, transportation, renewable fuels, and agriculture industries.  The company from time to time also provide small, highly customized services like making signs, handrails, and counter tops, just to name a few.  Dan mentioned that they really don’t want their company to grow helping new customers, but prefer to sufficiently satisfy current clients and get more and more of their business over time.  So far this strategy has helped with annual earnings because it has jumped a couple of millions of dollars from the previous year.  However, one year Dan stated that they put all of their eggs in one basket and everything went bad.  Other than that understandable mistake the company is now growing and is up to five separate buildings.  With the great employee benefits this is also adding to the success of the growing company.

Thank you Dan Bentz for leading us on a very interesting entrepreneurial journey!

Roger Stribling