Mower Maker to Rehire Some Workers

Excel Industries, maker of Hustler Turf mowers, said it has increased production and is rehiring 11 workers. The Hesston-based company said it expects further small increases in production and hiring in October and January.

At its peak in April 2008, Excel had 360 full-time and 40 temporary workers. The work force fell to below 300 as the temps and some full-time employees were laid off.

The company isn't hiring at the moment. Any new workers in months to come must start as temps and be hired through Team Employment in Newton.

Bob Mullet, the company's chief financial officer and vice president of operations, said the increase in production was more a matter of depleted inventories at the plant and among dealers, although there has been some rebound in demand.

"The sell-through was down," Mullet said, "but the retail activity was not down to the extent that we cut production."

After inventory levels had fallen 40 percent, the company decided to ramp up production and bring back the workers.

That's a common story in the U.S. these days. Manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers said inventories fell more than $140 billion by the end of second quarter, as worried companies slashed production in the fall and winter more than demand required.

Depleted inventories are prodding many manufacturers now to increase production even though the economy hasn't rebounded much.

Mullet said the company is also beginning to see a slow revival in demand. Sales in June and July were higher than in those months a year ago.

Much of that is being driven by demand for lower-priced models aimed at homeowners that the company has introduced, he said. The company traditionally has mostly sold higher-cost machines for commercial operators.

The company, owned by the Mullet family, makes Hustler Turf zero-turn-radius riding and walk-behind lawn mowers, costing between $2,000 and $12,000.

Roy Mullet, father of Bob Mullet and his brother, company president Paul Mullet, bought the company in 1961 when it was a year old. It made cabs for farm tractors and combines.

The company grew largely as a maker of cabs for original-equipment makers, particularly John Deere. The company, which made Hustler lawnmowers on the side since 1964, nearly went out of business when John Deere stopped sending it the work.

Since then, the company has become almost exclusively a maker of mowers.

Source: The Wichita Eagle

Posted September 13, 2009

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