Nattinger Materials Co. sells to larger competitor

Nattinger Materials Company, a 55-year-old Springfield business, has been sold to a larger competitor.

Chris Nattinger, who was the second generation of his family to own the concrete products manufacturing company, sold the company in August 1999 to Farmer Investment, a group that operates as Kirchner Block and Brick in St. Louis and as Midwest Block and Brick in Jefferson City and Kansas City. Nattinger's last day with the company was Dec. 31, 1999.

Nattinger's father, Ralph, founded the company with Jack Stewart in 1944 in Clinton and moved the operation to Springfield in 1947, Nattinger said. Nattinger decided to sell the company when he determined that his children were not going to follow him into the business.

"Neither of my children were active in the business which was one of the reasons I was interested in selling. I was not actively looking for a buyer, but they came to me and I knew the company well, and had for a long time, and respected what they did, so it was really the right time for me to move on," Nattinger said.

Nattinger, who is active in several civic pursuits, the Board of Public Utilities among them, said he is going to focus on those activities and other things of interest to him.

For those at his company, it should be business as usual. The 50 employees will remain. Farmer Investment's Jeff Preisner will succeed Nattinger as Nattinger Materials' new general manager.

Nattinger manufactures concrete block and related masonry at its two plants that are situated on about 10 acres at 1650 E. Atlantic St. Those two plants join five other manufacturing locations owned by the Farmer Investment group in St. Louis, Jefferson City and Kansas City. The company also has 10 retail outlets scattered throughout the state, Nattinger said. Nattinger Materials has been involved in several types of business throughout the years, but always maintained its core business of producing concrete block. The company opened in Clinton in 1944, then opened a second site in Springfield in 1947. Nattinger joined the company, working with his father in the summers, in 1966 and joined the company full time after serving in the military. The company has been at the Atlantic Street location since its move to Springfield.

Among the various lines of business the company has pursued was ready-mix concrete, which Nattinger was selling in 1971 when Chuck Seely, vice president of sales, joined the company.

"Since I've been with the company we've left the ready-mix business and consolidated to the one location here in Springfield. Our product mix has changed too," Seely said.

In the early '70s, the company was selling about 60 percent wholesale products (products purchased for resale) and 40 percent masonry, or concrete blocks and related products made in its own manufacturing plants, Seely said. That mix is now reversed, with masonry products accounting for 60 percent of Nattinger Materials' sales.

The company was also in the aluminum window and wooden window and door manufacturing business for a time, Nattinger said.

"Many of the large, chain, retail stores started coming into the area and they brought their own supply chains with them, so it was in that environment that we got out of the millwork business," Nattinger said.

An auxiliary company, Springfield Builders Supply, was founded by the Nattinger family, but then sold to a Kansas City-based firm. The company also had five locations at one time: in Springfield, Osceola, Clinton (two locations), and Windsor, but through the years winnowed down to one location in Springfield and to its core business of producing concrete block.

Seely said he expected good things to come from the merger.

"I hate to see Chris go, of course; I've known him for a long time. But if we had to sell, I'm pleased we sold to this particular group. They're block people like we are and they didn't buy us because we're not profitable; they bought us because we are a company in very good standing," Seely said.

The merger also allows Nattinger Materials access to other products, such as brick, which is produced in some of its new parent company's other manufacturing plants, Seely said.

"I envision us sharing some product with the other sites: we can manufacture for them and they can for us," Seely said.

Seely said the sales staff he manages is intact and will remain.

"We've set some pretty lofty goals for this year, and I think we can meet them," Seely said.

Nattinger said the investment group was looking to move into the area, and purchasing Nattinger Materials was one way for it to do so.

"I think this is an attractive area, certainly we have a great deal of business here and have had good success, so I think it's a good area for them," Nattinger said.

The company will also benefit from the greater buying power available to a larger company. Nattinger said while his company had less than $10 million a year in volume, this company has more than $60 million.

Like many other industries, the block concrete production industry has had its share of consolidation, Nattinger said. He added that he wanted to sell the company to a regional, rather than a large national company.

David Harrison, second-generation owner and president of Glenstone Block, a competitor of Nattinger's founded by Harrison's father in 1945, said the industry has seen quite a bit of consolidation since his company opened.

At that time there were more than 500,000 concrete block manufacturing companies, while now there are 5,500, Harrison said.

"The surviving companies have taken advantage of newer technology and have added plants and, parallel to that, the larger companies have purchased other plants," Harrison said.

Harrison said the sale of Nattinger Materials shouldn't affect the Springfield market.

"As far as competing, there are still two plants in Springfield; there have been all these years and that won't change," Harrison said.

Harrison added that his company has no plans to buy or be bought.