Plant tour raises awareness of local businesses

By Owen Boss

GARDNER — In an effort to raise people’s awareness of the strong businesses that exist in the local area, Mayor Mark Hawke and the Greater Gardner Chamber of Commerce toured the ACT Fastening Solutions facility at the Summit Industrial Park in Gardner Tuesday. While discussing the positives of running a privately owned local business, company President Ken Tomasetti also emphasized the hardships of managing a company through a struggling state and national economy. Mr. Tomasetti and his wife founded the business in 1994, and it has since grown to more than 100 employees. The majority of these employees live locally in Gardner and the surrounding towns, but Mr. Tomasetti noted that some come from as far away as Dracut. “It’s a very nice location, and we are hoping to expand in the near future.” The majority of the business that comes to the plant is within 75 miles of the location, and Mr. Tomasetti relies heavily on local consumers. The plant operates 24 hours a day, five days a week, and produces many different varieties of industrial fasteners. The fasteners produced at the plant are multipurpose and have a wide array of uses ranging from handcuffs, lobster traps and heart resuscitation devices to larger-scale products such as airplanes and marine equipment. Mr. Tomasetti discussed the challenges of running a business in a struggling economy. “The last couple of years have been tough; the economy has been very uncertain. We get new customers every day. We were averaging two new accounts a day but have begun dropping off one new account a day because a lot of the business is going primarily overseas.” Referring to outsourcing, Mr. Tomasetti said he was losing out major accounts to overseas producers in Asia, especially those located in China. “People who go overseas can buy cheaper; the quality is not there but they can buy cheaper,” he said. Although prices may be lower, there are clear benefits to ordering locally, Mr. Tomasetti said. “We ship our orders almost 99 percent that same day — whereas if you go through a country such as China its at least two or three months, and you have to pay beforehand. Here we give you 60 days, which means you can go out, sell the product, collect your money, and then pay us back.” One of the most pressing issues facing the company is the gas tax increase proposed by the state and the negative effects it would have on the various local businesses that rely heavily on gas as a resource for both heating their facilities and shipping. “This is clearly a double-edged sword. Here we stand trying to save the city and towns who are suffering because of a lack of proper funding over the last couple of years. And because of this they are now proposing a 49 percent increase in the gas tax, which would amount to around a 13-cent additional cost right away to drivers in Massachusetts. And now we the council and the mayor are hearing what kind of impact this is going to have on one local business,” Michael Ellis, president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, said. The implications, based on the effects on the ACT plant, could be much more dire when considered across the entire state. Mr. Ellis also added that the gas tax will also affect the approximately 120,000 drivers who commute from north central Massachusetts every day to go to work. “These drivers simply cannot bear this additional fuel tax.” Although losing business to overseas competitors and raises in health insurance prices are affecting the amount of business the company is able to generate, they have been able to avoid cutting back on their work force. “Fortunately we haven’t had to cut back on our labor; we’ve been holding steady for the last four or five years,” Mr. Tomasetti said. Through recent advances in the many automated devices at the plant, the company’s employees have remained for the most part unaffected by the struggling economy, Mr. Tomasetti said.

Appeared on Page 4 on 4/2/2008 (Vol. 206 No. 79)