Aluminum Castings ships parts for Navy gig

A Galesburg company that last month announced a $2 million expansion, with the addition of 16-26 jobs over the next two years, is among the firms benefitting from a $300,000 contract Honsa Ergonomic Technologies Inc. of the Quad Cities received from the U.S. Navy.

A news conference officially announcing the contract was at 10 a.m. Friday in Milan.

In a phone interview with The Register-Mail on Friday before the news conference, Honsa president and CEO Thomas Honsa said Aluminum Castings of Galesburg has been Honsa’s contract foundry “for a few years.” He said when he moved the work back to the area, he looked first in the Quad Cities, but Aluminum Castings was able to provide a better quality product.

An attempt to reach officials of Aluminum Castings for comment was not successful.

Honsa said while the contract is just now being announced, it has been in place for a time. As a result, Aluminum Castings already has completed its portion of the work.

“They have shipped us those raw castings already,” Honsa said. “It’s good to know we can get quality products here in the Midwest.”

Other production and shipping of products is expected to begin within three weeks, according to what Honsa said at the news conference.

Honsa said the contract is for chipping hammers for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, near Seattle, Wash. He said he was told this is “the largest chipping hammer order for that shipyard.” Honsa added he imagines that means within the “modern” era, as there were probably larger orders during World War II.

“We were able to snatch that potential contract out of the hands of the Chinese and, potentially, the Indians,” he said of the competitively bid project.

“It’s a good bit of business,” he said.

Honsa will be upgrading some of the Navy’s industrial hand tools with ergonomic technology as part of an attempt to improve workers’ safety. The new tools will be used for the ship recycle program at Puget Sound.

Honsa said his company used to import small parts for its tools. He decided he wanted the company to use all American-made products. He also brought machining operations back from other parts of the U.S. to the Quad City area.

“The intent of the project is to support internally our own community,” Honsa said. “We support those companies with our orders. It has a good feel to it. Our business has been in a record (pace) this year.”

In addition to the work Aluminum Castings does for Honsa, Fosbinder Fabrication and Boymun Machine Company, two Quad Cities machine shops, also will be doing work for the Navy contract.

Honsa, who said his politics are “all over the place,” credited Congressman Bobby Schilling, R-Colona, for his help. He called Schilling “in my view, the most active advocate for the small-businessman that I’ve seen.”

Schilling’s director of communications Jon Schweppe said the tools were being made in China and India “and that actually violated the Buy American Act.”

Schweppe said Honsa pointed that out to the Navy, which admitted he was correct, and opened the work up to competitive bidding, with Honsa winning the bid. According to Schweppe, Congressman Schilling’s office helped Honsa work his way through the bureaucracy.

Honsa said his firm’s export business also is growing, with about 12 to 15 percent of its business being exports in the automotive and aerospace industry. The company sells products to companies in countries such as England, Mexico, Canada, Korea and others.

He said Honsa Ergonomic Technologies is either the last such company to use totally American made products, or one of two. He said there is one other firm that may fit into that category, but he is not privy to its records to know for sure. He’s hoping to see more manufacturing move back to the area. Honsa said that means taking a proactive approach.

“By leaving it up to other people, your future is unsure,” he said. “If changes aren’t made, it’s going to be the same.”

“We need to continue to do everything we can to promote manufacturing here in Illinois,” Schilling said. “Innovators like Thomas Honsa are critical to the future of this great nation.”