Industrial Strength: Industrial Parks Make Strange Bedfellows
In past Industrial Strength columns, I've highlighted the fact that the Ditch Witch distributor is located right next door to its biggest customer, United Rentals, in Shrewsbury.
There are also any number other distributors, machine shops, manufacturers and assemblers for whom business is easy because of their proximity within the industrial parks they call home.
But what do a steel fabricator, a distributor of ice machines, a commercial bakery distribution center and a church have in common?
Not much, other than the fact that they've all found a home off Route 140 and Grove Street in Franklin at the Kenwood park.
Resh Inc. is a sheet metal fabricator, assembler, machine shop and laser processor. I like finding this kind of company. It reminds us that Central Massachusetts does have a connection to the manufactured goods we use every day. Even if we can't look at our computers or the medical equipment at our doctor's office and say, "that was made in Massachusetts," we can recognize that parts of that equipment were made here.
Resh was founded in Franklin in 1988 by three partners with some old machine equipment. Today, the company has 30 employees and a reputation for fast turnaround times, especially in its laser cutting business. Laser cutting allows precise cuts to be made in sheets of metal very quickly and accurately.
An example of this would be the panel on the back of your computer, which is probably no more than a flat piece of metal with a series of different-shaped openings designed to house the computer's connections.
Resh only began laser cutting about five years ago, and still does standard machining, grinding, metal forming, welding, assembling and even silk screening.
Do you enjoy Entenmann's products, Thomas' English muffins, Boboli pizza crusts, Arnold or Freihofer's bread?
Those products are not made at the Kenwood park, but they are distributed throughout New England from the George Weston Bakeries distribution center, which employs about 85 people.
Another very recognizable product that finds its way into New England restaurants, supermarkets, hospitals, convenience stores and commercial kitchens by way of the Kenwood Industrial Park is the line of ice machines and refrigerators made by Hoshizaki America Inc. All of Hoshizaki's products are made in Georgia, and the company's machines make, dispense and store ice whether it's for fast food or the finest cocktails.
And then there's the church. The New England Chapel is the first church I've come across while researching an industrial park for this column. It moved into the park in 2001, and the folks there will be the first to tell you that the church's location is "unique" and the church itself is "unlike other churches you've seen."
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