Gazette holding company Folience to buy assets of Kansas trailer maker TravAlum

CEDAR RAPIDS — Folience, the Cedar Rapids-based ESOP-owned holding company and parent of The Gazette, announced Tuesday it has acquired the assets of TravAlum, a Manhattan, Kan.-based aluminum trailer manufacturer, to increase capacity for its Cimarron Trailers company.

The acquisition will close TravAlum on March 30 and reopen the facility March 31 as a Cimarron-branded location. TravAlum’s approximately 30 employees will be considered for new positions at Cimarron, Kan.

The acquisition allows Cimmaron to expand, while also drawing from a skilled labor pool, company officials said in a statement.

Cimarron employs about 153 at its 120,000-square-foot Oklahoma facility, where it manufactures high-quality horse and livestock trailers. The company’s dealer network spans across the United States and includes a dealer in Canada.

The acquisition was announced at both companies Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Cimarron Trailers is blessed with growth from our dealers and customers,” Ben Janssen, president of Cimarron Trailers in Chickasha, Okla., said in a statement announcing the acquisition.

“We’ve been looking for an opportunity to expand our production beyond our facility in Chickasha. The opportunity to employ skilled labor in a facility that is already manufacturing aluminum trailers is a win-win for both companies.”

TravAlum’s former Chief Operating Officer Jeff Grieshaber, a member of the family who started TravAlum by Liberty 31 years ago, will become the new plant manager of the Cimarron, Kan., location.

TravAlum also manufactures aluminum trailers and has a dealer network spanning several states and into Canada.

“With the changes in technology, distribution and supply chain, we looked for a partner we knew well, who matched our values, and with whom we would be stronger together,” Grieshaber said in a statement. “We want to build on what we’ve already created, keep our employees’ jobs local and build a financially secure future for them.”

Folience, the 100 percent employee stock ownership holding company, also owns the Southeast Iowa Union newspaper in Washington, Mount Pleasant and Fairfield, and Life Line Emergency Vehicles in Sumner, as well as The Gazette. The company has about 500 employees across its six independently managed companies.

Folience traces its roots to the family-owned newspaper in 1884. The family began embracing employee ownership in 1986 and transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership in 2012.

“Folience’s business model is to find successful companies with good cultures that are looking to transition to employee-ownership,” Folience CEO Daniel Goldstein said in a statement.

“ESOPs are inherently local, owned by the employees, and have a greater commitment to the local community.”