Kuhlman Electric Corp. history

Schwitzer, founded in 1918, manufactured turbochargers, cooling fans, fan drives, and crankshaft vibration dampeners for the automotive industry.

A second manufacturing plant was constructed in Crystal Springs, Mississippi, in 1952, followed by the establishment of a third manufacturing facility in Salinas, California, three years later.

To expand their power transformer product line, Kuhlman opened the manufacturing facility in Crystal Springs, Mississippi just south of Jackson, Mississippi in 1956.

The company acquired Detroit-based United States Molding Fiberglass Corporation in 1963, renewing its efforts to diversify, but the foray into this business area proved to be only a dalliance.

In 1964, at a juncture when the production of transformers accounted for a much reduced 48 percent of Kuhlman Electric's revenue volume, the company acquired Meier Brass & Aluminum Company, based in Hazel Park, Michigan.

In July 1969, the Versailles, Kentucky plant began manufacturing distribution transformers for Kuhlman.

With Meier's departure, Kuhlman leaned on its newly-acquired plastics business, which had been gained several months before the divestiture of Meier when Borse Plastic Products was acquired in March 1985.

In 1990, Kuhlman sold its plastic operations to Solvay America, Inc. for approximately $45 million.

The other half of the company, its industrial products segment comprising Emtec Products Corporation, was fleshed out with the acquisition of Schwitzer, Inc. in 1995.