New owner doesn’t plan big changes at Waterloo Industries

New owner doesn’t plan big changes at Waterloo Industries

WATERLOO (AP) — A Waterloo company that makes storage cabinets for tools and garages doesn't expect big changes after a private equity firm bought the company.

AFI Partners bought Waterloo Industries in September.

The company had been owned by Fortune Brands for roughly 20 years, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reports. One of the products Waterloo Industries makes is storage products for Sears' Craftsman brand. Company Vice President Matt Sallee said he expects Waterloo Industries to keep its 14-person sales and marketing crew in Waterloo. The company's main plant employs about 350 people in Sedalia, Missouri.

'What it means is, we have a new owner,' Sallee said. 'What that does is provide more job security for local people.

“There's no change in the way we're structured. It's kind of a smaller crew and a steady number (in Waterloo) for the last several years.'

The company started in Waterloo in 1922 and used to build all its products there, but the location of its manufacturing has shifted several times over the years. Waterloo Industries has had manufacturing plants in Arkansas, Oklahoma and even Mexico.

The company has closed its other plants and consolidated all manufacturing at Sedalia.