HIGH
TECH COMPANY FINDS SUCCESS IN WRIGHT COUNTY 'S DELANO
Lee Carver, president
of Silicone Professionals LLC (Sil-Pro), made a quality-of-life
decision when he chose to launch his company in Wright County
. Sil-Pro, located in Delano , specializes in custom molded
and extruded silicone parts for the medical industry. Customers
for this growing high-tech business include major national
firms such as C.R. Bard, Guidant Corp., Johnson & Johnson,
Medtronic Inc., St. Jude Medical Inc., and 3M Co.
Mr. Carver, who has
three partners in the business, liked the conventional business
attributes that Delano offered:
• An aggressive
city economic development team that rallied around the project,
eager and were willing to help meet Sil-Pro's particular
needs
• A qualified
labor pool to draw upon for what proved to be a rapidly
growing force
• Financial
assistance in the development of the 33,000 square foot
building (built and owned by partner Calvin Brandt) that
houses Sil-Pro.
• A location
“Wright next to the metro” and in close proximity (less
than 30 miles) to the Minneapolis-St. Paul International
Airport, providing convenient access to local, regional
and national customers
But, perhaps most
importantly, Mr. Carver liked that special element Delano
could offer: quality of life. Mr. Carver lives in nearby
Montrose. The idea of a 10-minute, stress-free commute appealed
to an entrepreneur facing the grueling pace and constant
demands inherent in building a winning business.
Delano 's location
at the edge of the Twin Cities area offers the advantages
of both urban and small town life. A major metropolitan
area is easily accessible. But, just west of the metro,
Delano and surrounding Wright County offer a small-town,
more peaceful environment.
Strong workforce
has provided a winning team
Qualified workers
are plentiful in the area. Wright County is Minnesota 's
sixth fastest-growing county, with a population that has
increased an estimated 23.6 percent during the past six
years. The county work force totals 56,132, according to
recent statistics from the Minnesota Department of Economic
Security. From an employer's perspective, wages are another
advantage; wages in the county are at the lowest weekly
average within the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metro
area.
Mr. Carver liked
those numbers, and he also liked the fact that his workers
would be his neighbors. He knew the kind of people that
would emerge from the regional labor pool. They would be
people with a strong sense of community and a dedication
to hard and precise work.
Worker performance
is crucial to Sil-Pro. Sil-Pro's custom-made products must
meet the exacting standards of the company's clients with
absolute precision.
About 97 percent
of the firm's work is medical, mainly fashioning custom
parts for long-term implants such as pacemakers, defibrillators,
drug pumps and catheters. Successful functioning of a Sil-Pro
product can be literally a matter of life and death.
“The quality has
got to be unbelievable,” Mr. Carver says.
All operations are
performed in a Class 10,000 cleanroom environment – a custom
facility designed by Mr. Carver, and constructed and equipped
under his direct supervision.
The appearance of
the cleanroom, and the entire facility, is pivotal. Most
prospective customers insist on inspecting the facility
prior to requesting part quotes.
Skilled and committed
workers are a necessity in such an operation.
Mr. Carver's workforce
has grown rapidly. When Sil-Pro was launched in December
1998, Mr. Carver was the only employee for the first three
months, and by late in the first year the staff included
a receptionist and just a handful of workers. Today, the
firm has 53 employees.
The physical size
of operation is growing as well. Sil-Pro initially shared
its building with three other businesses. Gradually, the
other tenants have moved out as Sil-Pro has required more
space. By this fall, Sil-Pro plans to occupy the entire
building.
Some
of the employees at work maintaining the quality workmanship
that Sil-Pro is famous for.
Location
has been a hit with clients, too
Mr. Carver fully
appreciates the virtues of his location in Delano . But
what about his clients? What do those sophisticated executives
from major national companies think when they venture into
Delano 's small town setting to scrutinize the Sil-Pro operations?
“A lot of our customers
enjoy coming out to a rural setting,” Mr. Carver says.
For visitors saturated
with boutique coffee shops and trendy cafés, the
Juke Box Restaurant with its all-you-can-eat pizza buffet
is a popular change of pace, Mr. Carver says.
Plenty of good pizza,
an idyllic lifestyle and a growing company – Mr. Carver
believes he picked a winner when he located in Wright County
.
