Fastest growing NH companies: Wakefield Solutions Inc.

When the economy went south, Wakefield Solutions went on the defensive by enacting lean manufacturing practices and investing in sales and marketing. That strategy worked. After a drop of sales in the recession, the company experienced explosive growth during the recovery in 2010.

"We focused on growing our sales team. Most other companies were going in the other direction. We wanted to get in customers' offices and find out the value added proposition they wanted. They were reaching out for a partner that could shorten the engineering cycle to get product out to market," says Wayne Frerichs, president and CEO.

In 2010, Wakefield Solutions acquired Midwest Aluminum Inc. in Withee, Wisconsin, and launched a new engineering group in Pelham. Wakefield Solutions now has operations in China, Los Angeles, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Connecticut. The Pelham plant still generates about 75 percent of the company's revenue. In March, Wakefield Solutions added a 500-ton aluminum extrusion press at its Pelham operations. With five different aluminum extrusion presses, Wakefield can extrude more than 53 million pounds per year in Pelham.

"Our customer base is in electronics, power management, semi-conductor cooling and industrial automation," Frerichs says. "Our future growth markets are medical, LED lighting, renewable energy, and aerospace and defense." It counts Emerson Electric and General Electric among its customers.

Frerichs attributes the company's success to increasing its engineering services and the fact that its products are made in the United States. "It not only fueled growth in 2010, it's bearing fruit in 2011," he says. "I cannot remember a month since March 2009 that we haven't had eight to 12 [administrative and management] positions open" Business continues to increase dramatically this year, Frerichs says. "2010 was our best year ever. We expect that to continue on into 2015. Our business will increase about threefold from 2009 to 2015," he says.

Three-Year Avg. Growth: 30%

Rank on Private 100: 20

Headquarters: 33 Bridge St. Pelham, NH 03076

Product/Service: Designs and manufactures thermal management products, aluminum extrusion, machining, powdered metal, and plastics

President/CEO: Wayne Frerichs

Founded: 1957

Total Number of Employees: 441

Web Site: www.wakefield.com