Precision CEO Roger Brown said Precision is looking to grow the company and expects to be a big part of the Humboldt community.

“That’s our ultimate goal with this acquisition is to grow the business,” Brown said. “It’s not our intent to shut down or move the business. We want to grow the business and expand the business.”

PVS, of Detroit, Michigan., was the parent company of Chantland. That firm had owned the pulley company for about 20 years, Brown said.

The sale to Precision became effective Friday.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Chantland Company has 140,000 square feet of manufacturing space.

Precision, headquartered in Pella, was interested in Chantland to expand its footprint in the baggage and warehousing markets, Brown said.

Chantland is the newest member of the Precision Pulley and Idler group within the Precision company.

“While PPI already had a strong presence in unit handling, with this investment we are now positioned to be a leading manufacturer of unit handling conveyor components for parcel, baggage and warehousing,” said Brian Simpson, vice president of sales and marketing for PPI. “It allows us to provide a full slate of specialized options to an even larger customer base.”

Chantland, established in 1943, specializes in unit handling components within the baggage and warehouse industries.

There are two Chantland plants in Humboldt County. The one south of Humboldt is just off U.S. Highway 169, often referred to as the south plant — and the other in Dakota City, referred to as the north plant.

-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla
Water flows in the pond in front of Chantland Company’s south plant Tuesday. The plant was recently acquired by Precision Inc.

Precision only purchased the south plant, which is the pulley division, according to Brown.

The north plant is the material handling systems division.

“PVS decided to keep that part of the business,” Brown said.

Brown said the acquisition of the Chantland south plant was an opportunity for growth.

“We wanted to grow our product line and expand our customer base and this really did that for us in the unit handling side,” Brown said. “Chantland is really good at that. When you have a chance to buy one of the best companies on that side of the business…it was the right thing for us to do. We really believe it will help us grow that side of the business.”

Chantland’s plant has 140,00 square feet of manufacturing space.

Precision’s interest to acquire Chantland began about five years ago. But the discussions didn’t intensify until spring 2019.

“PPI has been in the unit handling market for a number of years,” Brown said. “We are on the package side. We do business with UPS and FedEx. We were not involved in baggage and handling and warehousing side of the business. We wanted to expand into those markets.”

So Precision reached out to PVS about five years ago to gauge interest.

“They weren’t ready at that time,” Brown said.

But the two companies stayed in touch.

In recent months, Brown said the two companies hashed out a deal.

“Once it got going it was a short process, but it took some time to get there,” Brown said.

Brown said PVS is primarily involved in the chemical industry with the companies it owns. Chantland was the only one not part of the chemical industry.

“They were getting to the point where they wanted to focus on the chemical side of it,” Brown said.

Chantland employs about 130 full-time workers. Between 20 and 25 people work there on a temporary basis, Brown said.

Including those additions, Precision employs almost 1,200 people in 16 locations worldwide. Precision serves markets that move rock, grain, packages and food, with conveyer solutions.

In terms of any changes to Chantland’s operations, Brown said there won’t be any immediate decisions until Precision has a chance to evaluate how the company functions.

Precision is an employee-owned company. And Brown said employees of Chantland will be shareholders in the company.

“The shares they get is essentially their retirement plan,” Brown said.