A letter of award by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Blaine, Minn. – General Pattern Company, Inc. based in Blaine, Minn., has been named the Minnesota Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.
The Jeffrey Butland Family-Owned Business of the Year is selected to honor family-owned and operated business which has been passed on from one generation to another. Nominees must also serve as a majority owner and operator or bear principal responsibility for operating the small business with at least a fifteen-year track record. Michael Mulrooney (President) and Scott Schake (Senior Vice President) of Central Minnesota Development Company, nominated General Pattern Company, Inc. for this award.
General Pattern is a 4th generation manufacturing company that was founded in 1922 by Dennis Reiland’s grandfather. The company today is headquartered in Blaine with additional engineering and manufacturing facilities in Ham Lake. In its early beginnings, the company started as a tool and die maker. Today, the company has grown to become a full-service provider of high-quality Rapid Prototyping, Rapid Tooling and Rapid Manufacturing for the automotive, medical, industrial, and consumer products industries worldwide.
While General Pattern’s business model is centered on plastic injection molding “made to order” manufacturing, the company has two other division (prototype design and tooling) that allow it to offer a fully integrated service for its clients. General Pattern designs and engineers prototype parts for new products and also designs and manufactures tooling that ultimately produces the parts. This integrated approach allows General Pattern to be a “one stop shop” for its clients.
Small family-owned businesses like General Pattern are the engines of job creation not only in Minnesota, but the entire United States. Their value and the role they play in our economy is sometimes underestimated because they are in fact a small business. But the truth is there’s nothing small about the impact General Pattern has had on local economy and community. Back in 2009, General Pattern employed less than 70 people. Through the worst recession in the recent memory, the company has increased employment by 25% and currently employs over 90 local citizens providing a firm foundation for all of them and their families.
General Pattern Company, Inc. will be honored at the Minnesota Small Business Awards program on May 6, 2013, at the Depot Minneapolis. – USSBA
