“PTMW started out a long time ago simply selling products to the railroad industry.” — Ed Carpenter PTMW, Inc.
RAISING THE BAR
Ed Carpenter, Senior Vice President of External Affairs PTMW, Inc.
36
SPRING 2015
TK Business Magazine
On the ground, PTMW, Inc., a metal enclosure and fabrication company, has made “massive” investments in Topeka, according to Ed Carpenter, senior vice president of external affairs. PTMW has long been involved in Topeka, and Carpenter shared evidence that it is here to stay. “PTMW started out a long time ago simply selling products to the railroad industry,” Carpenter said. “It got into the signal enclosure business back in the early ‘90s, and for a long time simply provided enclosures to the railroads. Now it does a great deal more.” Signal enclosures manufactured by PTMW, which look like large metal boxes, are used at railroad crossings. The enclosures contain all of the electronics and systems used to raise and lower the arms that halt traffic when trains pass by. So the next time arms come down at a railroad crossing to keep you from crossing paths with a freight train, chances are PTMW is behind it. “That’s probably the bread and butter of the business, although things are getting much more complex than they have been in the past,” Carpenter said. Like Vaerus Aviation, PTMW is growing. Carpenter estimated the company has grown on average 16 percent in gross revenues per year for the past seven or eight years. The number of permanent members PTMW employs has rocketed from 135 in 2009 to the 275 it boasts today. And with the growth has come investments. “PTMW has made massive investments in the city of Topeka in the tune of acquiring the property that was the old Payless Shoe Source warehouse,” Carpenter said. “It invested probably $3 million in renovating that facility so it could function as a manufacturing plant.” An additional $20 million was invested in equipment and other expenses for the new manufacturing plant. A $23 million investment in Topeka should speak volumes to investors and businesses considering investing here themselves.
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