Contacts: Shirah Apple (414) 297-1096/414-841-7013
rachel.apple@sba.gov
Owner Tom Nieman Recognized For Guiding Successful Business Expansion
MILWAUKEE—Tom Nieman, owner of Fromm Family Foods in Mequon, is the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Wisconsin Small Business Person of the Year. Neiman guided his century-old family-owned firm through a major expansion with SBA-backed financing, which resulted in the addition of 60 jobs and revenues more than doubling over three years.
The Fromm family has more than a century of involvement in animal care and nutrition. Founded in 1904, Fromm Family Foods became the largest and highest quality producer of silver fox furs in the nation, amassing significant expertise in canine health in the process. After producing the first commercially available distemper vaccines for dogs and cats in 1939, the firm developed its first dog kibble product—an innovation at the time–ten years later. It now distributes its high quality, gourmet foods for dogs and cats through a national network of privately owned distributors and independent specialty pet stores.
By 2008, demand for Fromm’s products was expected to exceed its production capacity within three years, and the company began planning to acquire an additional manufacturing site. Creative additions and innovative engineering process configurations to its 1925-era Mequon location enabled Fromm to keep pace with demand and grow the business to a level that it would support the building of a new facility.
Using SBA 504 financing, and with the support of Wisconsin Business Development Corporation and BMO Harris Bank, Neiman oversaw the year-long renovation of an old mill in Columbus, Wisconsin. New processing and storage facilities were also completed just one month before the company would have run short of production capacity to fill its orders. In July 2012, the firm again used SBA 504 financing to add 45,000 feet of warehouse space. The expansion has provided more than 60 new jobs in Columbus and Mequon, with revenues more than doubling between 2009 and 2012.
SBA Wisconsin congratulates Tom Neiman and Fromm Family Foods. They and SBA’s other award winners will be recognized at the 28th Annual SBA Awards Breakfast on Friday, May 31. The keynote speaker will be chef, author and culinary instructor Sanford “Sandy” D’Amato, former owner of Sanford Restaurant. To register for the event or to sponsor a table, click here. Contact Mary Trimmier at (414) 297-1093 or mary.trimmier@sba.gov for more information.
