Generations at EDCO achieve concrete results
Manufacturer weathers recession better than its counterparts
Imagine seeing your parents, brother, grandparents and great-uncle at work every day. For Jason Stanczyk, it's just another day at the office.
Stanczyk's family has co-owned and operated Equipment Development Co. in Frederick for the past 65 years. Stanczyk is the multimedia producer for the manufacturing company, which was started by Stanczyk's grandfather Leo Swan and Edward Harding, whose son, William, now is co-president with Stanczyk's father, Frank Stanczyk.
Jason Stanczyk's mother, Sue Stanczyk, is a member of the company's board and his brother, Daniel Stanczyk, and great-uncle Joe Swan work in the company's purchasing department. Even Jason's grandmother Irene Swan works in the marketing department.
The company, known as EDCO, began in Silver Spring and moved to Frederick in 1977. It's been at its Thomas Johnson Drive home since 1986, and doubled its space to 88,000 square feet in 1998.
The company manufactures tools that can do most anything with concrete: cut, grind, polish, plane, saw, drill and demolish.
"We make a real diverse line of equipment but it's all specialized," William Harding said.
The company still manufactures the original model of its dual-disc floor grinder, and Jason Stanczyk said customers "are still using the same grinders they bought in the '60s and '70s."
Executives declined to disclose figures, but Frank Stanczyk said revenues were down in its past fiscal year. Still, it was "not as bad as other people in our industry or other industries."
"We've always done well but the last couple years we're doing OK, and with the things we've put into effect ... the shock of the economy has been bad, but not as bad as it could have been," Frank Stanczyk said.
The U.S. manufacturing sector "got hit very hard" from the end of 2007 through the middle of this past year, with output falling more than 16 percent, said David Huether, chief economist for the National Association of Manufacturers, a Washington, D.C., trade group.
"Furniture, wood and concrete manufacturers got hit pretty hard," he said.
However, the industry started to recover in mid-2009, Huether said, with 7 percent growth through the second half of the year.
"Temporary relief in the form of Cash for Clunkers,' the homebuyer tax credit and a pro-business tax credit at the end of 2009 helped boost manufacturing activity and spurred growth," he said, adding an increase in fourth-quarter exports also helped.
EDCO has 66 employees, after the recession forced the company to lay off six workers more than a year ago, Frank Stanczyk said.
The company distributes its products worldwide, including most of Europe and Asia, plus Australia and New Zealand. EDCO also has participated in trade shows in the United Kingdom and Germany, where a large international trade show for construction equipment takes place annually in Munich, Harding said.
The company also supplies equipment to local and national rental companies.
EDCO's outlook for the remainder of this fiscal year is "promising," Harding said. In addition to finding ways to stay ahead of its competition, the company is looking to lease 8,500 square feet of unused warehouse space and 1,500 square feet of office space at its location.
The joke around the office is other companies and contractors don't want to admit to using EDCO's products out of fear of admitting they have made a mistake, Frank Stanczyk said.
"We are the mistake-erasers,'" he joked.
M. Richard Adams, CEO of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, said in an e-mail that although EDCO received the chamber's Made in Frederick County Summit Award in 2007, the company is not the "typical small-business chamber member," given its national and international customer base.
"We're thrilled that they find value in being involved with the local business community. Their innovation and high-quality work brings recognition to our area and provides a great example for forward-thinking manufacturers everywhere," Adams said.