An Arnold plastic and metal manufacturing company recently celebrated a major milestone in the only way it knows how, with as many current and former employees as possible in attendance.
On Oct. 4, LMC Industries, 100 Manufacturers Drive, held an 80th anniversary celebration.
Tammy Sparks, LMC human resource generalist, said approximately 400 people were at the event, which was catered by Kenrick’s Meats & Catering and featured a bounce house, balloons, face painting and yard games.
“It is exciting to see the retirees and their families along with the current employees and their families,” said LMC President Keith Suellentrop, 63, of Oakville. “We have done several of these events over the years, and they have all proven to be successful. The associates are always eager to show where they work.”
The company, originally called Lemay Machine Co., was founded in 1945 by Fred F. Suellentrop Sr. and Eugene E. Wehmeyer, said Allan Suellentrop, Fred’s son and Keith’s father. Allan is a former company president and LMC’s current chairman of the board.
Fred and his wife, Rose, became the sole owners of the company in 1949, and after moving from its original location in Lemay, the business moved to south St. Louis County in 1965 before settling in Arnold in 1995.
Allan, whose brother, Fred Suellentrop Jr., also was the company’s president at one time, said the family never envisioned LMC existing for 80 years.
“We just worked day by day,” said Allan, 86, of south St. Louis County. “I look back and marvel at how my dad made the transition of being born in 1899 to handling cordwood at about age 13 or 14 to moving to St. Louis to getting married and starting the company.”
History
Allan said his father moved to St. Louis in 1917, and his parents married in 1919. He said Fred Sr. worked at Champion Shoe Machine Co. and the Small Arms Plant in St. Louis before starting the family’s business.
The Suellentrop business started in a 3,550-square-foot building at 276 Lemay Ferry Road. It originally was called the Lemay Machine Shop before changing its name to the Lemay Machine Co. in 1947.
Allan said after the name change, the company designed and patented a valve to dispense whipped cream from a can that was later marketed on a product known as Reddi-wip.
Allan and Fred Jr. began working for their parents in 1960, and when Fred Sr. retired in February 1964, Fred Jr. became president and Allan was named vice president. Fred Sr. served as the chairman of the board until his death in 1978.
The Lemay Machine Co. expanded its operation in 1964, adding a plastic injection molding facility and a metal stamping facility. The company’s three operations were brought under the same roof in November 1965 when it moved into a 16,900-square-foot building at 4725 Green Park Road.
Allan said the manufacturing space increased to just more than 40,000 square feet at the Green Park Road. The company started supplying seat belt components to General Motors in 1978, and it continues to produce the components for GM today.
Fred Jr. and Allan’s sons started working for the company in the 1970s, and in 1988, the Lemay Machine Co. expanded again by moving into a 55,000-square-foot facility, called Imperial Plastics, at 3751 Hwy. M in Imperial.
Fred Jr. retired as president in 1992, and Allan took over as president and chief operating officer. He retired from those positions in December 2006, assuming the chairman role. Fred Jr. died in 2007.
The sons of Fred Jr. and Allan, including Dennis, Steve, Gary, Paul and Kevin, have also worked for the company throughout the years.
When the company turned 50 in 1995, it was renamed LMC Industries and moved into the 55-acre Tenbrook Industrial Center in Arnold. The company built two facilities that totaled about 226,000 square feet at its current location.
“The industrial park filled up in the first three to four years,” Keith said. “It was nice to get people who wanted to come to Arnold and build. The impact of the industrial park on Arnold and Jefferson County has been pretty dramatic. I would estimate at one time there were 400 to 500 employees in this industrial park. It certainly is an economic hub for the county and the city.”
Allan said LMC has weathered plenty of diversity over its 80 years.
“We, like many others, experienced recessions in the 1970s followed by the 1981-1982 recession, the worst recession since the Great Depression, then again in 1990 and 2008, yet we managed to grow and survive,” he said.
Place for family
Allan said a key to LMC’s success has been the company’s family atmosphere, which goes beyond the Suellentrops.
“We made everybody feel comfortable,” he said. “We had an open-door policy. They felt like family. It wasn’t just us as a family.”
Allan said LMC’s longtime employee, Bob Burnes, a designer who retired this year after working at the company for 48 years, gave testament to that family atmosphere.
“He said, ‘You always made us feel like family,’” Allan said. “I really appreciated that. For the most part, people feel like that. That is what we pride ourselves in. You never put yourself above anyone and always have an open mind.”
Keith said he and his family take pride in the fact that the company has employed thousands of people throughout LMC’s history. He said the company currently has 175 employees.
“There is a great sense of pride of being able to provide a place for people to work for so many years,” he said. “Being able to provide a good living for those in the community, and for everyone to be proud of the products we make for automobiles, household goods, industrial goods and the industries that we support is our legacy.”