BusinessExpansion
Manufacturing locally,
providing value globally
Tora Group takes a multifaceted approach to business growth
small and acting big. Over the past year, TG has
transformed into an unusual creature: a global small
business.
“We’re a dyed-in-
Dealmaking in a Downturn
the-wool Michigan
company. But we
also want to be
global-thinking.
We want to add
value where it
makes sense to
add value.”
—Rich Achtenberg,
president,
Tora Group
By Tim Heston, Senior Editor
Within seven days after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, Richard Achtenberg was walking into banks and asking
for loans to acquire a manufacturer—in Michigan,
no less.
Achtenberg chuckled quietly. “I’ve never necessarily had the best timing. We acquired right in the
middle of the storm.”
The manufacturing executive spent almost two
decades in various industrial sectors, including
many years in Japan as a manager for an automotive
supplier. Today his Rolodex is chock-full of business
contacts throughout the Pacific Rim. So in early
2008, with the help of those contacts, he went out
on his own to launch Tora Group (TG), which
brought Asian parts to the U.S. manufacturing market.
“In a lot of ways, [Tora Group] was a virtual company,” Achtenberg explained. “We were doing
transactions offshore but not really adding much
value here. It didn’t have any brick and mortar, or
boots on the ground, in North America. That was
the impetus behind acquiring Dorr last year.”
Dorr Industries is a 52-year-old enterprise specializing in stamping, tube bending, and screw machining, located just south of Grand Rapids. Today it
operates under TG Manufacturing LLC, the “brick
and mortar” division under the Tora Group umbrella.
Soon after Achtenberg launched TG Renewable
Energy Technologies, a company set up to both
coordinate projects with overseas partners and bring
renewable-energy business onto Dorr Industries’
shop floor. This was October 2008, just when the
credit crunch pulled the rug out from under capital-intensive projects, wind farms included—again, not
the best timing.
TG has a finger in many pies. Thing is, the whole
organization employs about 25. Talk about being
Achtenberg wasn’t kidding about his timing problems. When he set out to acquire Dorr last year, the
national bank chains weren’t interested, for obvious
reasons. As Achtenberg recalled, “Some of them
said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding. You want to borrow
what?’”
Still, several regional banks did step up, but not
just because they were less burdened by bad deals
that brought the financial system to its knees.
Achtenberg’s proposal made business sense. He wasn’t a vulture investor buying a struggling firm and
trying to turn it around. Instead he was acquiring a
small, stable, diversified firm. In Michigan especially, diversification means a lot.
An ISO 9001-certified company, Dorr Industries
fits the criteria. Garret Strbik, director of program
management and engineering, has worked at Dorr
for three years. “Talking with our previous owner
[Dave Stebleton], our diverse customer base has
always been there,” he said. “That goes back to the
fact there really wasn’t anything [Stableton] was
afraid to try. That got our foot in the door of a lot of
different industries.”
Strbik had similar sentiments about the new
owner. “It was a smooth transition. Rich is a very
driven man. He’s not afraid to try things, and that’s
good for a company our size.”
The company does have its share of automotive
work, but it also serves sectors such as the office furniture, marine, and recreational vehicle markets. It
has tube benders, stamping presses, and punch
presses operating beside screw machining centers,
an unusual combination that gives the company a
competitive advantage.
