Web posted
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Merger plans made public
By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer
Two Arkansas City production companies are merging to form a new company called Reliable Power Products Group, Inc. The merger will be finalized on March 31.
Goodtime Productions, a custom sheet metal fabrication company, announced Monday it will merge with RPPG, Inc., a process burner manufacturer that has been in business a little over a year.
Owners of both companies said the merger is a win-win situation.
The new owners will include Gary Wilson, of Goodtime Productions, and four others from RPPG, Inc.; Nathan Biddle, Clayton Biggerstaff, Ken Capps and Greg McGuire. All are longtime residents of Cowley County.
"We just thought this was the smart thing to do," said Gary Wilson, owner of Goodtime Productions. "With this new ownership team, we will be able to offer our customers more services, better lead times, better quality and develop other markets more efficiently."
Goodtime Productions was the Arkansas City Area Chamber of Commerce's 2002 Business of the Year.
The fabrication company began in a garage in 1990 with $700 and a dream of serving the custom hot rod market, Wilson said. It grew into a fully staffed custom sheet metal fabrication and welding job shop that catered to a diverse client base.
Wilson is the last remaining owner of the company. Former co-owner Jim Salomon died last July and former co-owner Kirby Neal left the company, according to a RPPG, Inc., press release.
The merger benefits RPPG because it had been a customer of Goodtime Productions, Biddle said.
"We were using Goodtime (Productions) in the manufacturing of the sheet metal products we designed," he said. "They were doing all the sheet metal work for our burner designs."
Biddle added that he believed the combined experience of the new company's leaders will enable it to shorten product development times traditionally associated with quality combustion equipment.
"We expect our speed and production quality will open up niches in the burner industry allowing us to become (a) low-cost, high-volume producer with total focus on customer, vendor and employee satisfaction," said Biddle.
Reliable Power Products Group, Inc., is located at the Goodtime Productions facility, 1409 W. Madison Ave.
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