Episode 1 of 20 in 2020 — Specialty Rim Supply, Terre Haute
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INDIANAPOLIS (Jan. 21, 2020) – The building in Terre Haute where Specialty Rim Supply (SRS) manufactures its signature products originally housed a brewery, which inexplicably moved into the new facility in 1920—the same year Prohibition started.
A century later, the state-of-the-art technology that SRS boasts inside the historic structure has helped the company become a dominant force in the aftermarket automotive industry. And it’s growing with the help of the state’s Employer Training Grant, which reimburses companies for employee training costs.
SRS was established in 1995 by the founders of Specialty Blanks Inc. SBI provided aluminum blanks for many market segments, including the aftermarket automotive industry. Over the course of a seven-year span, the founders of SBI ultimately determined the market needed a provider of spun aluminum rim blanks, and SRS was born.
The company has built its business selling to custom wheel builders, who then sell to the consumer, said Justin C. Cuvelier, director of manufacturing. What SRS manufactures is the outer rim, known in the industry as the “barrel.” The customer will design the center to make the wheel rim complete.
“Being one of the only ones in the country manufacturing this style of rim, we take pride in it being made in the USA, so there’s a lot of value in that,” said Cuvelier (pictured left).
SRS boasts a full-production machine shop, which includes several vertical and horizontal lathes, and state-of-the-art mills to produce high-quality aftermarket products for the off-road, lifted-truck and custom-car markets. SRS also manufactures motorcycle rims.
Thanks to its entry into new markets and the growth that has followed, SRS’s machine shop is running around the clock. The company has 40 employees and plans to hire more. It’s turned to the Indiana Department of Workforce Development’s (DWD) Employer Training Grant for assistance.
The grant provides companies $5,000 per employee up to $50,000 for training costs. SRS has used the funds both to train existing employees and hire new ones.
“We’re continuing to train because we’re continuing to evolve as we’re getting into these new markets,” Cuvelier said. “In doing that, we’ve been able to take current staff, guys that have been here 15 to 20 years, and retrain them in a completely new process. It’s been tremendous.”
The grant money has enabled SRS to increase wages and improve the quality of employee the company hires, Cuvelier said.
Moving forward, SRS plans to add four more employees in the machine shop using the reimbursement, to bring the total to 10 that the company will have hired with the state assistance available to it. SRS sought out its local WorkOne center to help identify qualified workers.
Cuvelier thinks the company still would have grown without the grant but not as quickly as it has with the help.
The growth in sales has enabled SRS to reinvest the revenue back into the company to retrofit its machinery for new product lines. When Cuvelier came aboard 10 years ago, SRS was manufacturing 45 different sizes of rims. The number since has grown to more than 90.
Said Cuvelier: “We’re constantly reinventing the wheel, per se.”
Visit https://www.nextleveljobs.org/Employer/How-It-Works for more information about the Employer Training Grant.
Watch a short video on Specialty Rim Supply: https://youtu.be/LNKcvv-8xeo.
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About the Indiana Department of Workforce Development
DWD serves the worker and the employer to ensure workplace success. DWD is committed to innovating and invigorating Indiana’s economic future by providing WorkOne Career Centers, Unemployment Insurance, Labor Market Information, Regional Workforce Strategies and Professional Training. Through these services, DWD is able to develop a premier workforce that enables Indiana employers to flourish and entices businesses from outside our state to relocate to Indiana.
For additional information, contact:
Scott Olson, 317-234-8576, solson@dwd.in.gov
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