Family owned, family churred
A little piece of Titletown now available in West Central Wisconsin
October 21, 2024
CHILTON – “People first” – such is the philosophy of Worthington Enterprises, both Steve Caravati and Gary Mayer said.
Though it may be expected for Caravati and Mayer – as, respectively, the company’s president of consumer products and the senior operations manager of its Chilton facility – to make such a favorable claim, they said Worthington’s multi-million-dollar investment in Chilton goes well beyond mere words.
A groundbreaking ceremony in September signaled the start of what Caravati said is a “modernization project” for the Chilton facility, where Worthington manufactures Bernzomatic and Mag-Torch hand torches and fuel cylinders for consumer use, from camping to construction.
Caravati said the modernization efforts include a 58,000-square-foot building to support current manufacturing as well as future production.
“It’s going to be equipped with modern machinery to fill and to test (fuel) cylinders,” he said. “It’s going to have superior air ventilation systems and modern safety features for automated shutdown in case of emergencies, among other features. We’re also going to have additional storage that’s going to accommodate a couple hundred thousand more cylinders and the ability to add a refillable fill line (of cylinders) in that building as well, as we look to expand on some of our future strategic initiatives.”
Mayer said due to the materials and flammable gas involved in the process, further improving the safety of the facility’s approximately 300 employees is of primary importance.
“The additional building space and the safety upgrades that are going to happen with this new building are going to be incredible,” he said. “As (employees) do the filling operation, anything that’s an abnormality to the process, the building will pick up on and react accordingly to – without somebody having to say, ‘hey, this is happening.’ The building will ‘see’ it and react to it.”
Mayer and Caravati said the investment is intended to signify a long-term commitment to the company’s “people first” philosophy throughout the facility, community and customer base.
“This is one of the largest capital expenditure projects in Worthington’s history,” Caravati said. “Our customers want safe, quality products, and to know we’re going to continue to produce those safe, quality products in Chilton, Wisconsin, for the next several decades is very exciting for myself and the rest of the team.”
Choosing Chilton
Worthington Enterprises and Worthington Steel, Caravati said, are the two entities formed in 2023 following a strategic separation of what had been Worthington Industries.
Worthington Industries was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1955.
Initially producing custom-processed steel, Caravati said the company grew and diversified through the ensuing decades, ultimately moving to the New York Stock Exchange in 2000 and pursuing a strategy of acquisition and realignment of businesses.
Chilton Metal Products would become one of those acquisitions in 2004, Caravati said, which helped Worthington move from what had primarily been industrial channels into retail – “which we have been able to successfully grow over the last 20 years.”
“For really the past five decades, we have been the world leader in manufacturing pressurized cylinders,” he said. “Back in 2004, as the company looked to expand its manufacturing footprint, we saw (the Chilton acquisition) as an adjacent product line in a facility that not only manufactured cylinders but had the capabilities to fill them as well, so we filled them with propylene and also propane.”
Merging the expertise of manufacturing and cylinder filling created and continues to provide a competitive advantage for Worthington, Caravati said, with the additional benefit of shipping nationwide from a relatively centralized location.
Further, Worthington would also retain the expertise and ethics of the former facility’s workforce, Mayer said, with many choosing to extend their careers long after the acquisition.
“We have a very diverse workforce, especially from a tenure standpoint,” he said. “We had a couple of (employees) who participated in the groundbreaking – a 46-year material handler and a 42-year press operator. We have a lot (of employees) on the upper end of the (tenure) spectrum. One just retired a couple of years ago who had 54 years in.”
Such was the confidence in the Chilton team, Caravati said, that when Worthington acquired the Bernzomatic and Mag-Torch brands years later, manufacturing of the products was consolidated to the Chilton facility from Medina, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively.
Though Worthington has continually chosen to designate Chilton as vital to its operation – including several million dollars worth of investments throughout the years – Mayer said the company has likewise made conscious efforts to remain an employer of choice.
He said community outreach initiatives include career development with local schools, engagement with and donations for firefighters and veterans and retention, an on-site gymnasium and barbershop.
The current modernization efforts of the facility, Mayer and Caravati said, are also aimed at improving safety and the employee experience – and beyond.
“We want to treat others the way we want to be treated, and I think at the end of the day, that’s what it all boils down to,” Caravati said. “We recognize that without our employees, we wouldn’t be able to serve our customers.”
Mayer said employees are looking forward to the expansion.
”There’s a lot of buzz around the facility and the community about this project,” he said. “It obviously brings a big light to Chilton.”
Caravati said the project is about investing in U.S. manufacturing – specifically in Chilton.
“Our employees are the heartbeat of our business, and we want to make sure they have the ability to continue to produce high-quality products for our consumers,” he said. “We have millions of people around the world who really trust these brands, and they trust these brands because of the quality that they represent. Each product really reflects the hard work and reliability and commitment of every employee involved.”
