Peter Pirsch finds new owners, who leave its bankruptcy woes behind
Peter Pirsch, the Kenosha, Wisc., apparatus manufacturer known as the Cadillac of the industry, is back in business with a slightly altered name and a drastically altered management team.
Five new owners have paid a total of $1.6 million for Peter Pirsch & Sons Co., which had been family-owned throughout its 129-year history. The new company, named Peter Pirsch Co. to capitalize on the manufacturer’s reputation for quality, custom-built pumpers, aerials, and tractor-drawn aerials, is stressing its intention to regain a reputation for customer service. “No one who was involved in sales or marketing [for the old company) is still involved,” says Midwest regional sales manager Paul Vnuk. “There are new owners, new management, and new staff.” Pirsch’s craftspeople and engineers remain, however; some of them have worked there for decades.
Peter Pirsch & Sons filed a petition to reorganize under the federal Chapter 11 bankruptcy law last September. Peter Pirsch Co. incorporated in January, without taking on any of the debts.
The bankruptcy action closely followed the closing of the company’s plant. As chronicled in local newspapers, the company, with family member Andrew Sale as president and chairman, had run into cash flow problems that delayed apparatus deliveries. Over the weeks preceding the bankruptcy action, Peter Pirsch & Sons was hit with lawsuits from irate suppliers demanding payment and at least one irate customer demanding delivery.
The latter was the city of Racine, Wise., which asked that a court appoint a receiver to look after creditors’ interests. Racine accused Peter Pirsch & Sons of failing to build two pumpers and an aerial on which the city had made a $257,000 down payment.
Yet another lawsuit was filed by a former Pirsch vice president, who charged that the company forged his name on vehicle titles.
That suit has been settled out of court, but Sale faces trial on felony charges of issuing fraudulant performance bonds signed with the names of fictitious corporate officers.
Paul Vnuk, speaking for the new company, says, “Andy Sales burned people . . . We don’t want to have the image [the previous] Pirsch had.”
Vnuk wouldn’t specify what customer incentives Peter Pirsch Co. might offer in attempting to regain the confidence of the country’s fire departments, but did comment that “we are taking into consideration anyone who has been burned or hassled by the previous management.”
The new owners include two officials previously with Ford Motor Co.: John Blondek, now Pirsch’s president, and Joe Wallitsch, vice president. The chairman is E.P. Haas, a foundary, plastics, and real estate executive. Eirectors are Red Haas, a machine tool dealer, and Merle Fleetwood, Jr., formerly with Delco Electronics Automotive Division.
