WEST BEND, Wis. Jan. 25, 2002) — GreenMan Technologies Inc. has purchased West Bend-based tire recycler An-Gun Inc. for an undisclosed amount. Since Jan. 1, the company has been operating as GreenMan Technologies of Wisconsin Inc.
Purchase of the property represents more than $1 million of accretive revenue annually for GreenMan, according to Chief Financial Officer Chuck Coppa.
“Right now the facility is doing about 1 million tires a year, but we expect to see that growing to 2-4 million,” Mr. Coppa said. “There's a great opportunity here, particularly since we already have operations in Minnesota.” He didn't give any timetable for achieving the company's scrap tire processing goals in Wisconsin, but he did say GreenMan was already installing new equipment at the West Bend plant.
“We started growing the business on Jan. 2,” he said.
According to a GreenMan press release issued Jan. 23, the former An-Gun provides scrap tire collection services in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Iowa.
The purchase of An-Gun “complements our existing business base in the Upper Midwest by providing us with a seasoned management team and a solid market presence in Greater Milwaukee and surrounding areas,” said Mark Maust, GreenMan vice president of operations and president of GreenMan of Wisconsin, in the release. Some 25 million tires are generated annually in the Upper Midwest, he added.
GreenMan of Wisconsin employs “about a dozen” workers, according to Mr. Coppa. “As we grow the business, I imagine there will be some hiring,” he added.
Based in Lynnhaven, Mass., GreenMan employs about 100 people in tire recycling operations in Georgia, Minnesota, South Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere. Most of its business is making tire chips for tire-derived fuel, but its Technical Tire Recycling Inc. facility in Parsons, Tenn. specializes in providing whole tires to cement kilns throughout North America.