It's official I guess - not that it wasn't before. I get notices from Bidspotter when items I want come up for auction. This morning it is for some Lista tool cabinets.
www.bidspotter.com
Yeah it still stings. Even my Snap-on guy was scratching his head on this situation. None of us could believe that a company that was half of the US-made hex keys market could be run so poorly that they would fold after a hundred years of running.It's official I guess - not that it wasn't before. I get notices from Bidspotter when items I want come up for auction. This morning it is for some Lista tool cabinets.
Lista Auctions Online | Bidspotter.com
Bid online on 9 Lista auction lots for sale at Bidspotter.com
-The current president of Eklind (Earl) was brought in while I was there so Howard Eklind could step down. Sometime after I left he brought in his brother (Doug) as comptroller. Together the Dynamic Duo managed to auger the company in. The full story would only be known by those two. Congratulations boys, mission accomplished.
-Both of them hold degrees in finance and are heading into retirement, I suspect they'll get every cent they can.
There’s a lot of denial going on here too IMO
I hear the going rate is 30 pieces of silver. Could just let these old names rest.
You were an employee there - 30 years ago.
I'm not picking any sides here but there ARE several reasons companys are leaving IL.You were an employee there - 30 years ago.
What info have you provided that was not mostly speculation?
My beef is "blame management" or even "blame Illinois" seems more than a bit simplistic as well, but always sounds good. Holy ****, how many times has this happened to an American company in the past 2+ decades. All bad management or overtaxing? It's a jungle out there.
Blaming IL, taxes probably deserving to some extent, but it's no secret it's expensive to do business in most any metropolitan area. Still a lot of businesses in that region paying taxes. Might not really matter anyway, since Indiana has lost thousands of factories (either going out of business or offshoring) many of those were located in small towns, where costs and taxes were relatively low. Seems like any of the new factories coming in get sweet tax deals (on the backs of the locals) and don't always pay good wages.
Maybe Eklind could still be kicking *** today, but perhaps there was a multitude of factures none of us are privy to.
A common theme here is although we don't own factories, we're pretty expert on telling those that do, what they are doing wrong.
For a NFL team worth $8 billion are the Bears struggling to make ends meet? Or, are they doing the tried-and-true Jerry Maguire "show me the money!" or in this case, a sweet new stadium? We will and will pay for it whether we like it or not.
Spoken like a true outsider, I’m sure it’s easy for you to quarterback from nowhere Minnesota.
-Yes and I do know some things about the operation and the principal players involved. Time doesn't make that completely irrelevant.
-Had you bothered to read the last line of my reply....I'll paste it for you "Without the full story every explanation is merely speculation, including mine." I've not attempted to post further explanation for the bankruptcy beyond what I know, that would be speculating.What info have you provided that was not mostly speculation?
-What would you know about manufacturing? What do you even know about Chicago? You drive a truck. Nothing wrong with that but without first hand experience that would be like me commenting on difficulties in commercial cartage. You're a spectator in the bleachers, quite a bit of difference on the playing field y'know. You have a right to an opinion but it's a rather underinformed one.
-Thanks, I'll try to remember that.
-I agree with those statements. Complex problems rarely have simple causes or solutions.
-You could have just posted this one sentence and stopped there.
-Nobody here, including me, is qualified to tell any manufacturing concern what they're doing wrong. Especially if they're merely a spectator.
I wasn't directing all of my response at you, personally. I should have made that more clear.-Yes and I do know some things about the operation and the principal players involved. Time doesn't make that completely irrelevant.
-Had you bothered to read the last line of my reply....I'll paste it for you "Without the full story every explanation is merely speculation, including mine." I've not attempted to post further explanation for the bankruptcy beyond what I know, that would be speculating.
-What would you know about manufacturing? What do you even know about Chicago? You drive a truck. Nothing wrong with that but without first hand experience that would be like me commenting on difficulties in commercial cartage. You're a spectator in the bleachers, quite a bit of difference on the playing field y'know. You have a right to an opinion but it's a rather underinformed one.
-Thanks, I'll try to remember that.
-I agree with those statements. Complex problems rarely have simple causes or solutions.
-You could have just posted this one sentence and stopped there.
-Nobody here, including me, is qualified to tell any manufacturing concern what they're doing wrong. Especially if they're merely a spectator.
How many more would it be if CaseIH (Moline, Rock Island, Chicago Works), Caterpillar, and others hadn't left? Not to mention the corporate offices of Boeing, Cat, Morton Salt. I just saw Tyson and Panduit are shutting down IL production too (moving to Indiana in Panduit's case).
There's a reason Illinois mfg jobs more than halved since 1970, but Indiana's only lost a third. You might argue that's insignificant, but the several hundred thousand people without good jobs would disagree (I'm sure someone will state those jobs aren't good too, but ask any small town who's lost their only factory that and see if the outcome was positive).You were an employee there - 30 years ago.
What info have you provided that was not mostly speculation?
My beef is "blame management" or even "blame Illinois" seems more than a bit simplistic as well, but always sounds good. Holy ****, how many times has this happened to an American company in the past 2+ decades. All bad management or overtaxing? It's a jungle out there.
Blaming IL, taxes probably deserving to some extent, but it's no secret it's expensive to do business in most any metropolitan area. Still a lot of businesses in that region paying taxes. Might not really matter anyway, since Indiana has lost thousands of factories (either going out of business or offshoring) many of those were located in small towns, where costs and taxes were relatively low. Seems like any of the new factories coming in get sweet tax deals (on the backs of the locals) and don't always pay good wages.
Maybe Eklind could still be kicking *** today, but perhaps there was a multitude of factures none of us are privy to.
A common theme here is although we don't own factories, we're pretty expert on telling those that do, what they are doing wrong.
So, these are profitable companies, that instead of staying and paying IL taxes - like everybody else, they just bail to where it is cheaper, usually because those taxpayers are "willing" to pay these Corporation's share of property (and other) taxes, sometime for decades.
It was quite significant at the time, probably not as much nowadays, as those old factory workers are probably dead and more of the young, are delivering (or throwing) Amazon packages.
That I'm an outsider is true.
The irony is those Companies made their money big time and in doing so, helped make the place they want to leave, the way it is.
All of those you mentioned are leaving except citadel because they could no longer secure sweetheart deals. Boeing and Morton for example were receiving tif funds that expired. They literally payed no taxes or Chicago utility costs at the expense of the other businesses and property owners in the area, who had to fund the tif district, these are extremely profitable companies tying to squeeze taxpayers and other
-Then perhaps I shouldn't have made my reply so sharp. I take some exception with commentary made by those that haven't been on the playing field, Chat GPT and the internet doesn't make anybody an expert. Hope you'll accept my indirect apology if I've offended.
-Donnelly was huge in Chicago and many careers in a good trade simply vanished overnight. I worked with a few former printers.
-Perhaps in part, perhaps (speculating) the two brothers just wanted a "golden parachute" for retirement. I wasn't a big fan of the labor pool either but don't know how much impact they would have had. Nobody but the brothers truly knows the whole story.
-People like to have somebody to vilify, whether it's deserved or not. I watched the demise of the US Smokeless Tobacco (Skoal, Copenhagen) facility in Chicago. I'd have to say that labor had some responsibility in the closure. The Union had their turn, and management had a hand in it too. There were a few other off-the-record factors in play, typical Chicago shenanigans contributing too. There was plenty of blame to go around, it wasn't all management. They headed to Kentucky about 2 years after I left the company.That seems to be what everyone likes.
How many techs, mechanics, fitters, maintenance men etc that would have daily used a hex key 30 years ago now use a hex bit in an impact driver today, do you think? I would bet its a lot of them, because its fast and easier, certainly seems that way from what I see being used.
Is that so? With net migration every year since '09, that seems unlikely.
Illinois vs "The Midwest" might be one of the more silly comparisons out there, IMO.Is that so? With net migration every year since '09, that seems unlikely.
If we're short houses, the rest of the Midwest must really be hurting:
Did they ever make standard bits? I assumed they didn't have the equipment for it. They can probably use the same machine which cuts the ball ends for their L-keys to make bits by turning down 1/4" stock just enough to fit, but to make a standard bit they'd need a machine to cut flats. It seems really really really simple, and they should do it. And they should reduce the shanks where they can.
-You may be very mistaken about that. Do you even know how Bondhus used to make the ball ends through at least the 90's? Do you know if they've changed the process and what process they're currently using? If not your comments are just baseless spitballing.
-Your profile lists you as a machine operator and that's ok too but production manufacturing is likely a bit beyond your understanding. I don't believe you have a grasp of what's involved. Manufacturing is rarely, if ever, "really really really simple" just because you think it is.
They still make regular hex power bits:
? Yes, my post was spitballing. I do not have technical details on Bondhus' manufacturing process. I do not work there. If I did, I would not post it here. If you wanted to share how they made them in the 90s, you could just link to that information. I would read it.
-Then that's ok to do when stated as "spitballing". Flatly declarative statements, without first-hand knowledge, irk me a bit because there's too much bad info on the internet already.
-I've posted this, and other info on hex key manufacturing, numerous times in multiple threads. A simple search on this website should pull up several threads. I applaud that you're willing to read and inform yourself, many cannot be bothered to do some reading before posting.
That is not true that Indiana tax rates have gone up "sharply". Maybe a few select counties very slightly. but overall the average tax rate has fallen slightly since 2020 from 0.8 percent to currently 0.76 percent average. And its still capped a 1 percent but no county is coming close to that. Some counties are down at 0.55 percent.So, these are profitable companies, that instead of staying and paying IL taxes - like everybody else, they just bail to where it is cheaper, usually because those taxpayers are "willing" to pay these Corporation's share of property (and other) taxes, sometime for decades.
We look at them as Hero's, winning again the Villains.
Property taxes in IN are increasing sharply, so I for one am thrilled to subsidize wealthy Corporations.
I appreciate your well thought out personal slam, but I did not type one word regarding property tax rates and made no comparison at all between the two states which would be apples and oranges anyway.
You implied rates as you stated the following
Assessment values have nothing to do with the state, your county does those. Nor are they being manipulated by the state to get you to pay more. They are driven by the market and mostly by inflation. The only way for the states cost to to “subsidize” the wealthy corporation would be to raise the assessment rate. Leaving the rate the same or lowering it is not a form of effective manipulation to put more burden upon the citizens of the state as you claim.Property taxes in IN are increasing sharply, so I for one am thrilled to subsidize wealthy Corporations.
-Hope you got some decent food while there, it's one of the few things to recommend Chicago. What lathe did you get?
-When the tollways were to be constructed they were supposed to be free in 1973. That never happened (surprise).
-It's not just the roads that are round on the east side of the city, glad you got out without incident.
I have a set that specifically say Bondhus Made in the USA on each bit.
