Business View Magazine | September 2019

53 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2019 2018 was the company’s biggest year ever, and they’re set to exceed that again this year – by about 10 percent. The reasons are many. The positive economy is certainly a contributing factor, along with increased automotive use of aluminum. Plus, Gillespie & Powers’ reputation for excellence earned over five generations, and a number of valuable long-standing customer and supplier relationships, continue to be key building blocks for future growth. A full complement of 110 employees, including engineers, field supervisors, and office support, work at the St. Louis, Missouri headquarters and satellite offices in Hannibal, Missouri; Rock Island, Illinois; Lewisport, Kentucky; and Muscle Shoals, Alabama. In addition, 300 people work in the field – brought in from union halls across the country and managed by the Gillespie & Powers team. Ian Marsh wears many hats at this super-active company – on any given day, he may be heading up the growth and development team as Director of Sales and Marketing or trekking across the world to lead new equipment installations in his capacity as Project Manager. He reports, “We have a very strong order book. For new equipment projects, we are booked out until June of 2020. We recently brought on two new customers: Ellwood Engineered Castings out of Hubbard, Ohio, who are adding aluminum castings and forgings to their portfolio. We’re supplying them with a new melting furnace and a new holding furnace, as well as a sow dryer, for phase one of their project. We also just signed a contract with Matalco in April for a tilting melter, tilting holder, three homo ovens, two coolers, and charging equipment for the ovens and coolers. They’re building a brand new plant in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.” Marsh is now acting as onsite Project Manager in South Korea for a furnace installation for Novelis – a returning customer that’s adding a fourth piece of equipment to their cast house. Owned by Aditya Birla Group of India, Novelis is a strong player in the industry. Marsh notes, “We have a long history with Novelis – we originally built that plant in 2012 and when it came time to add a piece of equipment, they didn’t hesitate to contact GI LLESP I E & POWERS , INC .