Le Sueur Inc. produces aluminum and plastic-molded parts for customers
Battered by recession Le Sueur Inc. was hit as hard as any business by the Great Recession. The company had 640 employees prior to 2009, but after three rounds of down-sizing employment fell to 350. Today the numbers have climbed to 450.
Le Sueur Inc. can produce a wide range of parts for its diverse customer base.
MN Valley Business • november 2012 • 23
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mall businesses dominate the area in sheer numbers. There are more than 2,400 businesses that have just one to four employees, while just six private companies employ 500 or more employees each. But major employers have an unparalleled overall economic impact and offer insight into the economic health of the area. In Blue Earth and Nicollet counties, the impact of public sector/non-profit employment can’t be overstated. Of the 10 largest employers in the region, only two — Carlson Craft Social and Carlson Craft Commercial — are purely private businesses. Two — Mankato Clinic and top employer Mayo Clinic Health System-Mankato — are health care facilities. The St. Peter Regional Treatment Center is a state-operated facility for the mentally ill and for dangerous sex offenders. The Thro Co., while privately owned, has its rates set largely by the government and is heavily regulated. Three top employers are education facilities — MSU, Gustavus and Mankato Public Schools. And Mankato Rehabilitation Center is a non-profit. Got to the next 10 largest employers — who employ between 300 and 640 people each — and the private sector reigns: Le Sueur Inc., Verizon Wireless, Kato Engineering, Precision Press, Taylor Corp. Administrative, MICO and Hickory Tech among them. For both public and private sector employers, the weight of the recession still pressures hiring, but slow — and sometimes strong — growth is prevalent.
The Le Sueur-based business is an aluminum foundry, aluminum die caster and plastic moldings firm that makes parts for use by other companies, such as Caterpillar. Dick Seidenstricker, Chief Operating Officer, runs the company for brother and sister owners Mark and Janet Mueller. It’s a company their grandfathers started as a sand foundry 66 years ago. Seidenstricker, who started in late 2009 after most of the layoffs, said the owners admit they didn’t realize how quickly business would spiral down. “They admit they were slow to react and when they did react, they didn’t realize how deep (the recession) was going to be.” He said the company didn’t lose customers, the customers just stopped ordering as many parts when the recession hit. “So instead of ordering 1,000 they ordered 500. We were down 35 or 40 percent,” Seidenstricker said. “But when things came back our customers were putting in a lot of inventory so it boosted us a lot. Revenues are up about 11 percent for the fiscal year.” Still, Seidenstricker said he’s recently been hearing some disturbing news. “Just in the last 45 to 60 days, a lot of our customers have acknowledged they’ve seen softening in their orders. Some will be idling their plants for a week or two late this year or early next year. We’re being told to push orders out into the months ahead.” Seidenstricker said Le Sueur Inc. is in a better position to deal with such ups and downs because it’s made a concerted effort to hire more employees through temp agencies. Those working through a temp agency account for 10-15 percent of the company’s workforce. “Working with the temp agency has had several benefits. They are better at recruiting qualified employees and doing better background checks.