The trouble was that in fiscal 2009 that niche shriveled by about 14 percent — or a little more than $152 million in diminished sales — because the U.S. and world economies hit the skids.
The good news is that Clarcor, which moved its 50-person headquarters staff to the Nashville area six years ago from Rockford, Ill., sees a slightly brighter outlook for its business this year.
Chairman and CEO Norm Johnson expects his company's North American sales to improve, along with business in such major foreign markets as China, Brazil, Mexico and India.
Described as a "steady Eddie" operator by one stock market analyst, Clarcor makes its money selling new and replacement filtration systems to all sorts of transportation, manufacturing and industrial clients. It also makes consumer and industrial packaging products.
Johnson discussed the year ahead and what he sees as good odds that the national economy will gain real momentum by midyear in an interview with Tennessean Business Editor Randy McClain.
Give me a quick overview of Clarcor's size.
There are about 6,000 people in the company worldwide, but we have a relatively lean corporate headquarters staff, with approximately 50 people in Franklin.
We have 25 manufacturing plants in North America; some of the larger plants are in Kearney, Neb.; Louisville, Ky.; Mineral Wells, Texas; and Greensboro, N.C. We also have several manufacturing facilities in China. We just made a couple of acquisitions in China, and we've been in that country 15 years now. We built a new manufacturing plant there a couple of years ago. We also manufacture in Europe, South Africa, Mexico, Morocco, virtually around the world.
What are you forecasting for 2010 in terms of sales, profits and strength of your key markets?
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