of a machine part at TMC shop.
(Photo, Brian McDonald)
Company: Technical Machining Corporation (TMC)
Owner: Linda Croteau-Brooks, Bernard J. Croteau Jr., Bernard Croteau Sr.
Location: 32 Wellington Road, Lincoln
Employees: 75
Year founded: 1948
Type of business: Precision machine shop
Annual revenues: $8 to $12 million
Bernard Croteau Sr. was part owner of the family business before he even knew it.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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Soon after enlisting in the service he received a letter from his father, Romeo, telling him he had started a new business – funded partially with money from Bernard Croteau’s savings account.
“He was a machinist by trade,” Croteau said. “He waited until I left to start his own machining business and took $1,600 from my savings account.”
Today, as president of the company’s board, Croteau Sr. looks across his desk at the newest president -Bernard Croteau Jr. – and realizes it was a good investment.
“I am the luckiest guy in the world,” he says proudly. “I have a son and a daughter that work here. It’s wonderful.”
But a lot has changed since that initial investment.
Like other companies in the state the migration of the textile industry out of Rhode Island forced the business to diversify. At first, Croteau said the company found success machining a wide variety of parts for computers.
“At that time they were huge,” Croteau Sr. said. “As big as a desk and they had thousands of parts, all of which needed to be machined.”
But like the textile industry before that, computers soon got smaller and less machining was needed.
“We have literally seen entire markets dry up,” Croteau Sr. said.
And while the company soon found work in other areas, including the automotive and aeronautical industries, its work in technology brought about another major change — its name. Incorporated as Textile Machine Shop, Croteau Sr. changed the company’s name in the 1970s to Technical Machining Corporation.
“We were a machine shop for the textile industry and then the industry began to dry up,” he said. “Our name became a liability for us. When we would walk into a potential account and say ‘textile’ they would immediately be turned off. That was very difficult.”
The company did more than add technology to its name, it also added it to the shop floor.
“If you don’t have the courage or the foresight to add technology then you will fall way behind,” Croteau Sr. said. “This industry demands it.”
The company isn’t hesitant to purchase new computerized equipment to meet the needs of a customer. In fact, last year it bought $600,000 worth of equipment just to fill an order for one client.
“We are a very service-oriented company,” Croteau Jr. said. “You have got to be able to keep your customers satisfied. If they don’t get the service from you they will get it from someone else and you don’t want that.”
Five years ago, to better meet the needs of its customers, the company moved its headquarters from Cumber-land to Lincoln. According to Croteau Jr., the move has paid off.
“We were starting to get overcrowded in Cumberland and needed a new space,” he said. “Since we moved here the company has tripled in size.”
Vice President Linda Croteau Brooks said the new office space also provides the company an opportunity to open the building to clients and the public.
“We have vocational schools that come through here, our clients and other people,” she said. “It helps shed the image of a dusty shop. People are really surprised when they come here.”
The key to the company’s success the family agreed, is its 75 employees. In an age when finding qualified workers can be of a company’s biggest challenges, the Croteaus say their focus is not on hiring, but rather on retention.
“We believe in paying our people right,” Croteau Sr. said. “If you have satisfied employees and a well organized operation, you have a successful business.”
Croteau Brooks said the company offers its employees training opportunities as well as a retirement plan that boasts a 100 percent company match, up to five percent.
“This isn’t a normal situation,” she said. “There is a reason why people want to work here.”
Croteau Jr. knows first hand what it’s like to be an employee. He started working at the company when he was 16.
“I started by sweeping the floors,” he said. “I worked here all through school and eventually worked my way up.”
As a result, he realizes the importance of keeping employees happy. “We have 70 employees, and I worry about keeping them busy,” he said. “We want them to have a good life as well as a good work environment.”
Giving their employees recognition for a job well done isn’t something the Croteau family forgets to do. In fact, they understand that many of their workers won’t ever be recognized for what they do outside of the shop.
“It takes so much to become a technician in this industry,” Croteau Sr. said. “Yet you aren’t recognized like a plumber or bricklayer. It’s too bad.”
What’s more, he said, “you can’t manufacturer without machining, so there is always a need for companies like this.”
