April 2015 marked the 5 year anniversary of Master Power Transmission. As I look back at the last five years, I can’t help but imagine how the Reeves Brothers felt after their five year anniversary back in 1893 or E.P. Larsh (founder of Master Electric Company) felt after his company’s five year anniversary in 1925! Although a lot has changed through the years, the culture of Master PT is filled with the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit of our founders.
The Reeves Brothers and E.P. Larsh were entrepreneurs at heart who used their engineering expertise to solve problems. They believed that you build companies with people who are problem solvers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. These shared attributes allowed both companies to develop motors, gearing, and variable speed transmissions that were truly leaps and bounds beyond what was available in the market place at that time. Both the Reeves Brothers and E.P. Larsh took pride, not only in their products, but also in the communities that helped build the products.
When you walk through our plant today you can feel that sense of pride, craftsmanship, and ownership that distinguished the Master and Reeves brands over the years. You also get that strange feeling that E.P. Larsh and Milton Reeves are looking down on you prodding you to move forward, invest, and innovate.
That is exactly what we are doing! The difference between April 2010 and April 2015 is like night and day. Not only have we invested in machinery and people, but we have invested in our infrastructure to support our growth. We continue to look for ways to help our customers solve the problems that they encounter with our eyes always on the next innovation. Our fanatical focus on the customer is making a real difference in their success.
When we look back 10, 15, 50 years from now, this 5 year anniversary will be remembered as the starting point of a different kind of company. Different in that our investments in people, technology, and machinery will continue to be focused on making the overall customer experience a factor that differentiates us from the competition. Different in that we invest in our communities because it is the right thing to do. Different in that we truly believe in products manufactured in the United States. Different in that we understand that world class manufacturing is not just about new machinery or new processes but about the people in our company and the people we serve.
I think M.O. Reeves and E.P. Larsh would be proud of what we have accomplished over these last five years and, more importantly, I think they would be proud of where we are headed.
