QCBJ Newsmakers: Crawford Company grows into west RI

This story is part of the QCBJ’s Newsmakers edition. This year-end wrap-up from the staff of the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal includes some of the biggest stories we brought you in 2023. It’s also a tradition by our parent company, Corridor Media Group, based in North Liberty, Iowa. This story was originally published in May 2023.

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Sometimes the answer to your business’ challenge is closer than you think, and in Crawford Company’s case, it was right around the corner.  Crawford, which traces its roots to the HVAC business, was bursting at the seams as the growing company had expanded over the years into manufacturing, machining, fabricating and more – particularly at its Seaberg Industries operation. That’s when Crawford’s leadership began to weigh their expansion choices.   Led by co-owners Ian Frink and Jim Maynard Jr., the leadership team wrestled with options for creating more manufacturing and storage space. But the solution ended up right outside the front doors of Crawford’s headquarters in west Rock Island.  Crawford, located in the city’s Sunset Business Park at 1306 Mill St., since 1965, found the space it craved just down the street in three industrial buildings. Two of the buildings down in the 100 block of Fourth Avenue, which Crawford’s team affectionately calls “the brickyard” for their facades, along with an oversized “sawtooth” building along Mill Street, have added a much-needed 120,000 square feet to Crawford’s operations. “Jim (Maynard) and I purchased the three buildings because of their close proximity to our Mill Street operation,” Mr. Frink said in an interview with the QCBJ. “We’re trying to create a campus feel here.” The pair became Crawford’s owners after following their fathers into the business.

Mr. Frink’s father Bob retired in 2017. Jim Maynard Sr. retired in 1996. Larry Anderson was part of the management team, serving as chief financial officer, until he retired in January 2023. He was succeeded by Mark Gray, the new CFO. Crawford’s latest expansion represents a $2.4 million total investment for the buildings, renovations and some major new equipment upgrades. Mr. Frink said the acquisition alone was a $1.2 million investment. The pair bought the buildings – which had sat vacant or underused for years – from Wisconsin-based Badger Properties. The trio of buildings included a 40,000-square-foot structure that was leased and continues to house these tenants: IFI (Industrial Fiberglass Inc.); and Midwest Mailworks.  The building additions now bring Crawford’s Rock Island facilities to five, including a separate manufacturing facility at 730 31st Ave., where the company produces its own line of brewing and distilling equipment. With company roots in HVAC, Crawford expanded in 2000 with its acquisition of DSP Monoxivent and later launched a Brew Equipment Division in 2013.  Now some 70-plus years since Crawford planted its roots in Rock Island, the multi-faceted business is busy not only expanding its footprint in the west end industrial park but also eyeing its future growth there. Down in the “brickyard,” a renovated warehouse is already bustling with new activity and increased business from the growing Seaberg Industries division.   “We’re building up existing accounts and diversifying the work we take on,” said Tim Pratt, who joined the company in December 2020 as the general manager for Seaberg Industries, a Quad Cities company Crawford acquired that year. 

Mr. Pratt said the new Rock Island expansion is allowing Seaberg to grow not only beyond its west Davenport facility but also take on jobs and clients it physically did not have the room for previously.   According to Mr. Frink, Seaberg’s revenues were about $10 million when it was acquired by Crawford, and from 2021 to 2022, revenues increased from $11.8 million to $18.6 million. He added that in Mr. Pratt’s first full year, revenues increased 57% at Seaberg.  “Tim does a good job of qualifying the work we go after,” said Keith Gerks, who is the companywide fabrication division manager. He joined the company in 2011.   Mr. Pratt and Mr. Gerks said the additional orders not only have increased sales but also have led to increased workforce at Seaberg, which has added 30 positions in the past two years.  The new Rock Island building, which Seaberg moved into last year, provides needed space for its skilled staff to fabricate, assemble and build gym equipment as well as fabricate products for the ag equipment industry, Mr. Gerks said. Just since moving in, Seaberg has added another 15 new employees.  The new space also enabled Seaberg to take on new customers and projects, Mr. Pratt said. “The scope of some of that production work needed more of a footprint,” he said, pointing to the open warehouse where massive metal tubes for agriculture equipment could be fabricated and stored.   Mr. Frink said other options they considered included: an expansion at Seaberg’s main manufacturing facility in Davenport near West Lake Park, building a new facility elsewhere or purchasing other existing buildings.   But the rising construction costs, along with the now long lead time to receive supplies due to COVID-19 lingering delays, Mr. Pratt said, would have doubled the project’s cost. “We knew these buildings were empty and vacant.”  “We thought this was a little more efficient,” Mr. Frink said of the neighboring trio of buildings. He credits his business partner Mr. Maynard with developing the conceptual plans and Mr. Gray, the CFO, for the financial analysis that went into the project.  But Mr. Frink said it was the other team members, including Mr. Pratt and Mr. Gerks, who had “a real vision for workflow” as they planned how to best reconfigure and renovate the warehouse building.  “It looks like a big facility but we’re trying to find the most efficient way to work,” he told the QCBJ during a tour of the expanded campus.  To accommodate the oversized raw materials (including long metal pipes) needed in production and to simplify the workflow, Mr. Pratt said one of their first renovations was to remove some existing walls and install new dock doors to allow semi-truck access. The thought process, he said, was to have enough room for raw materials and products “to come here, be done here and shipped from here – that would be ideal.” Other renovations included enlarging the interior openings to allow for forklifts and other equipment to move about seamlessly; the addition of new support beams; all new electrical systems and other repair work (including water damage) that Mr. Gerks has attributed to the building having sat vacant so long.   Crawford also invested about $1.8 million in new, technologically advanced equipment including: a new carbide tipped cold saw, four new machine centers for milling and drilling, a dual cutting bed and new welding cell. According to Mr. Pratt, one piece of equipment replaced a machine still in use that had been built in the 1940s.  Company owner Mr. Frink said the team is still considering how to best utilize the sawtooth building (the largest structure in the acquisition) for the long term. Located right across from Crawford’s main plant, he said Sears Manufacturing is temporarily leasing it out for the year. “When the space becomes available Crawford will most likely explore options for a multi-phase plan to upgrade this building to allow it to become more functional,” he said.    He added that the acquisition also included “a little land too that we could build on if we want to later.”     One of the brick buildings also could accommodate future growth. “At some point, we’ll be using the tenant building when the time is right,” Mr. Frink said. Of all the options they considered and all the vacant industrial buildings across the Quad Cities, he said “It’s nice to be repurposing something.”  The company is equally pleased to be part of what has been increased investment in Sunset Industrial Park, which is home to more than 20 businesses with a heavy concentration of warehousing and distribution. Served by rail, the industrial park sits west of Illinois Route 92. First to 31st avenues and adjacent to the city’s Sunset Park and Marina. It also has two barge terminals, according to the City of Rock Island’s website. “This industrial park is starting to see some major renovations with us and other businesses here,” Mr. Frink said.   While Crawford privately financed its latest expansion without any city incentives, Mr. Frink said “Rock Island is a great partner to work with … and has helped us on other things” including a parking project and facade improvements.  In fact, Rock Island development leaders said the investment by Crawford as well as other recent improvements by other businesses are driving interest in the Sunset Business Park.  “Crawford is a big deal down there, the city is very supportive of their work,” said Liz Murray Tallman, vice president, development services for the Development Association of Rock Island (DARI). “It’s really going to help us do some major renovations in that park.”   Tarah Sipes, the City of Rock Island’s economic development manager, said that Shive-Hattery recently completed a site assessment of the industrial park for the city. The city used seed money from a $50,000 grant it received a few years ago from the former Quad Cities First organization (then the economic development arm of the Quad Cities Chamber) to conduct the assessment, she said.  Ms. Tallman said the assessment evaluated various aspects of the park and produced a list of infrastructure recommendations that the city’s development team now will study as it plans how to improve the park and attract more businesses there.  Area real estate agents have described some of the buildings in the park as functionally obsolete, Ms. Sipes said. “The streets are in rough shape, maybe they weren’t constructed for that level of truck traffic. Are the utilities efficient? We don’t know (yet),” Ms. Tallman said. “The assessment will help identify what we need to be doing in the future and those are the kind of things the city can use as a playbook.”   Rock Island as compared to Davenport, she said, “doesn’t have access to a bunch of farm ground (for development). So we’re looking at what do we currently have and need to do to have those areas ready for future development.” 

Crawford Company timeline

Here’s a look at Crawford Company’s beginnings as a small heating and cooling shop to its present-day operations designed to serve the HVAC, plumbing, electrical and fabrication customers.  1952 – Harvey Crawford, who had served as a Navy Air Corps pilot during World War II, establishes Crawford Heating & Cooling as sole proprietorship. The early shop is located on 21st Street near the corner of Fourth Avenue in Rock Island. 1962 – Articles of incorporation are registered with the Secretary of State on Nov. 26. 1965 – Company builds a new facility at 1306 Mill St. (present-day site) and survives the Great Flood of 1965. 1968 – Crawford expands to 6,800 square feet on Mill Street. 1972 – Bob Frink begins career at Crawford. 1974 – Mr. Crawford dies and is succeeded by company leaders Bob Frink and Jim Maynard Sr., who assume management duties. 1977 – Crawford Residential begins a long-standing association with Bryant Heating and Cooling products. 1982 – Jim Maynard Jr. begins employment at Crawford Co. 1985 – Crawford adds commercial and industrial markets to niche, maintaining residential division. 1986 – Crawford adds a welding shop and begins specialty fabrication projects. 1990 – Specialized stainless steel projects have become a new emphasis. The first building expansion – since 1968 – is completed and adds 3,200 square feet. 1994 – Another 3,600-square-foot addition is added for the specialty fabrication division along with installation of a four-ton overhead crane. Building now boasts 13,200 square feet. 1996 – A coil line and additional sheet metal ductwork fabrication equipment is purchased. 

• Jim Maynard Sr. retires from business.

1998 – Crawford remodels and gains additional office space bringing the facility to 26,000 square feet. 2000 – Crawford buys area's largest laser-cutting center and forms new Laser Division.

• Crawford adds a subsidiary, DSP Monoxivent, entering the "source capture solution" market at a national level.
• Company breaks ground on a new 21,000-square foot addition. 
• Crawford Residential begins association with Lennox Home Comfort Systems. 
• Ian Frink begins employment at the company.

2001 – Company completes largest addition in history, total square-footage grows to 47,000-square feet.  2006 – Larry Anderson, CFO, assumes management role at company. Crawford launches its current logo and continues building a marketing base for its residential division. 2008 – Crawford/Monoxivent introduce fiberglass reinforced plastics division. Crawford's three lasers are rebuilt and cutting capacity increases. 2010 – Crawford adds a new 3,500-watt laser to increase cutting capacity.

• Crawford adds Plumbing Division. 
• Monoxivent grows fiberglass reinforced plastics with UnderDuct and Corrosion Composites brands.

2012 – On its 60th year of business, Crawford breaks ground on a new 20,000-square-foot expansion for the Monoxivent division. 2013 – Facility has grown to 67,650 square feet. 

• Crawford expands into Dubuque, Iowa, market – opening Crawford North. 
• Crawford expands into micro-brewing equipment and launches brewtanks.com. 

2017 – Bob Frink announces his retirement after 45 years at Crawford including 43 as president. Crawford ownership now includes Mr. Frink’s son, Ian Frink, and Jim Maynard Jr. 2018 – Additional 17,525-square-foot building at 31st Avenue in Rock Island opens for Brew Equipment Division. 2019 – Crawford North expands its Dubuque facility to 12,000 square feet with the company’s total footprint at 97,175 square feet at its Rock Island locations and Dubuque facility.    2020 – Crawford Company and Art-O-Lite Electrical execute purchase agreement and a new Electrical Division is formed. 2020 – Crawford Co. purchases Seaberg Industries, making Seaberg a new division, specializing in machining and fabrication.  2021 – Crawford co-owners purchase three buildings in Rock Island’s Sunset Business Park. The buildings provide an additional 133,000 square feet for production work and storage, serving multiple divisions of the company.  2022 – Company celebrates 70 years serving the QC market.  Source: Crawford Company 

AT A GLANCE – Crawford Company

Founded: In 1952 by Harvey Crawford as a small heating and cooling business.  Headquarters: 1306 Mill St., Rock Island. Other facilities include: Brew Equipment Division, 31st Avenue, Rock Island; Seaberg Industries, 2395 West Lake Blvd., Davenport, and Crawford North in Dubuque, Iowa.  Co-owners: Ian Frink and Jim Maynard Jr. Services: Residential and commercial HVAC; electrical (Art-O-Lite Electrical); mechanical piping; plumbing/drain cleaning; custom architectural; brewing and distilling equipment manufacturing; welded fabrication, laser cutting, and manufacture of machined parts, components and assemblies (Seaberg).  Workforce: 351 total employees including 245 at Crawford and 106 at Seaberg.  Annual sales: $97.86 million (2022). Latest development: Crawford’s owners invested $2.4 million in the acquisition and renovation of three vacant warehouse buildings in Rock Island’s Sunset Business Park as well as the purchase of new equipment. 

NEWSMAKERS UPDATE

Crawford invests in more renovations at Rock Island HQ

A vacant warehouse that now is part of sprawling Crawford Company campus is getting a new lease on life that will open the door for additional fabrication space as well as help grow its new manufacturing line of industrial stacks.  Crawford is renovating the 430 First St. warehouse – located in the middle of its west Rock Island operations. The “sawtooth” structure – named for its roofline – was among four nearby buildings that Crawford co-owners Ian Frink and Jim Maynard acquired in recent years in the Sunset Business Park.   Formerly leased by Sears Manufacturing, Mr. Frink said Crawford is converting the oversized building into multi-purpose uses. “We need a place to stage things and free up some prime real estate down at our Mill Street building,” he said.  The 40,000-square-foot building will be for light manufacturing “and a central hub for fabrication” and inventory and tool storage. Since 2018, Crawford has invested more than $7.3 million in renovations and new equipment across its west Rock Island facilities. The first phase of the sawtooth building is an additional $600,000 investment.   The Rock Island City Council earlier approved several incentives for the project including a sales tax exemption and tax rebate; $50,000 Growing Rock Island Together (GRIT) low-interest forgivable loan; and a $100,000 low-interest loan.  Mr. Frink said the latest renovations help free up space at its other buildings to ramp up production of its new Engineered Stacks line and its Monoxivent Fiberglass Reinforced Products (FRP) Solutions. “We do FRP Solutions with a partner from Chicago (IFI), who is leasing space from us,” he said, adding that Crawford also is investing in new equipment for that operation. He predicted that by year end, the warehouse would be weather tight, the overhead doors would be upgraded, and Crawford would be using the space for fabrication and staging. The next phase will be a build-out of new offices there. “If the first phase is done by spring, we’ll be happy,” he said.    — Jennifer DeWitt