Posted: Dec. 28, 2009

A rare bright spot in the sea of red ink the foundering economy churned up this year is the InPro Corp., headquartered in Muskego.

It hired 20 people in 2009 even though sales did not grow for the first time in 13 years, InPro President Phil Ziegler said. The company was able to add employees despite no sales growth by tightening its belt.

Harsh economic times had a silver lining, Ziegler said, because it caused managers to examine more deeply what they do and how they do it.

InPro even added a $1.5 million custom-designed and -built machine that is the only one in the world, he said. The machine, located in the company's New Berlin plant, makes the manufacturing operation more efficient and the company's product line more appealing in the marketplace, Ziegler said.

When his identical twin brother Steven bought InPro in 1996, the company that was founded in 1976 was in rocky financial shape, Ziegler said.

But the brothers have doggedly stuck to a business strategy of diversifying products and improving the production process a little every year, Ziegler said.

"Companies are looking for companies that offer more productions, so they deal with fewer people," he said.

Average yearly growth of 15 percent and a payroll of 400 employees were the result.

Coming out of InPro's New Berlin plant are countertops, windowsills and wall protectors used in hospitals, hospital operating rooms, nursing homes, hotels, schools and elsewhere. The Muskego plant's products include expansion joints and fire blankets allowing large buildings to expand and contract with the weather, cubicle tracks and curtains used in hospitals for privacy and interior building signs.