Workers at Duluth, Minn., Plant Put Final Touches on Machinery before Move
Published in: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Date: 10/10/2000
By: Passi, Peter
Workers at Vantage Point Manufacturing are installing lift equipment on their final truck before operations are moved from the outskirts of Duluth to Omaha, Neb.
The company’s work force has been reduced from 20 employees to five in preparation for the move.
Elliot Equipment Co. will acquire the business and has offered workers the opportunity to relocate to Omaha.
So far, there have been no takers, said Tim Raymond, former Vantage Point president, but workers still have time to consider the Omaha offer.
Vantage Point is expected to vacate its operations at 4768 First Ave.
S., Rice Lake Township, before the end of the month.
Although Vantage Point will cease to exist, John Glazer, executive vice president of Elliot Equipment Co., said the Duluth company’s Skywalk brand will continue on.
“The reputation of the Skywalk line is tremendous in the industry,” Glazer said. “And it complements our existing line.” The Skywalk lifts’ dimensions differ from those produced by Elliot.
Some of the Skywalk platforms are as big as 16 feet wide. Glazer said the platforms on Elliot lifts are smaller.
Elliot employs about 110 people. All the company’s operations are in Omaha, and Glazer said he wants to keep things that way to maximize efficiency and maintain strong quality control.
Both Vantage Point and Elliot are privately held businesses. The terms of their deal were not made public.
Elliot Equipment has been manufacturing lifts — commonly called cherry pickers — since 1948. Since the Glazer family acquired the business in 1991, the company has demonstrated strong growth.
The Omaha Area Chamber of Commerce recognized Elliot Equipment as one of the 20 fastest-growing companies in the region in 1992, 1996, 1997 and 2000.
Elliot’s products are put to use in many capacities, including electrical maintenance, sign installation, glass replacement, mining, servicing airports and tree trimming.
Glazer declined to disclose Elliot’s sales figures.
Vantage Point had been in the business since 1992. In 1995, it acquired some of the product line of another Duluth business called Reach All.
DEMCO, another Duluth business that had acquired part of Reach All’s operations, also recently closed. It manufactured digger derrick equipment, marketing it under the Pitman name. DEMCO closed suddenly July 21.