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ABB DIVESTS DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER
MANUFACTURING PLANT IN ATHENS, GA.
Power Partners Is the Name of the New Company
ATHENS, GEORGIA, May 5, 2003—ABB announced today
that it has entered into an agreement to sell its Athens,
GA, distribution transformer manufacturing plant to
the team that owns Change Partners L.L.C., an Athens-based
organizational consulting firm that helps work cultures—primarily
in manufacturing companies—adapt to change. Terms
for the sale of the business to Power Partners, Inc.,
whose primary shareholders are Dr. Sherrie Ford and
Steve Hollis, were not disclosed. Revenues derived from
the products manufactured at the plant totaled approximately
$100 million in 2002.
The pole-type distribution transformers manufactured
at the Athens plant are designed to serve residential
overhead distribution loads. They are also suitable
for light commercial loads, industrial lighting and
diversified power applications. The plant serves utilities,
manufacturing companies and energy producers in the
United States, Mexico and other international markets.
Power Partners, Inc., will offer continued employment
to the approximately 500 active ABB-Athens employees
at the time the change in ownership goes into effect
on May 15. The company is led by Steve Hollis, who serves
as Chief Executive Officer, and Allan Slovin, who is
Chief Operating Officer.
Hollis held sales and manufacturing leadership positions
at Georgia Pacific and several other companies before
joining Change Partners as a partner in 1996. Slovin
most recently managed Mitsubishi Consumer Electronics
North American manufacturing operations, and has served
in a number of other senior manufacturing positions
in large companies.
Sherrie Ford will serve as a director of Power Partners,
and she will continue to lead the Change Partners consulting
firm. Hollis will continue to be an active principal
at Change Partners. Power Partners and Change Partners
are independent companies.
"Through Change Partners’ relationships with
customers, we have helped many manufacturing companies
succeed by developing team-oriented work cultures in
which employees perform well because their morale is
high," said CEO Steve Hollis. "We are eager
to make Power Partners a rewarding experience for everyone
involved in the new venture.
"Power Partners is looking first to strengthen
the effectiveness of existing Athens operations, but
we also see excellent opportunities for growth,"
Hollis said. "We expect to meet our business objectives
by making the plant a showcase for concepts such as
employee involvement and lean manufacturing. We firmly
believe employees, customers, suppliers and our community
in Athens, GA, will all benefit from the plant’s
new ownership, and we are excited at the opportunities
it presents."
"My relationship with the plant we have purchased
dates back to the late 1980s, and I have worked with
every plant manager and virtually every employee during
that time," said co-owner Sherrie Ford. "Knowing
that the potential of the workforce is second to none
gives us complete confidence in the future of this plant
and its ability to provide good manufacturing jobs that
are important to the Athens community."
Power Partners and ABB will have a continuing business
relationship. ABB will be Power Partners’ channel
to the marketplace and will sell the transformers that
Power Partners produces under the ABB brand.
Gerry Schepers, Executive Vice President for ABB Distribution
Transformers, said the divestiture is a good move for
ABB. "Our business relationship with Power Partners
will allow us to continue to offer ABB’s customers
a complete portfolio of transmission and distribution
equipment. The new owners of the Athens plant will place
us in a better position competitively to sustain and
grow this segment of the distribution transformer business."
Power Partners manufactures single-phase and three-phase
pole-type transformers at 34.5 kV and below; in ratings
from 5 – 833 kVA single-phase and 30- 500 kVA three-phase.
The pole-type transformers are manufactured to the international
standards of ISO 9001.
ABB (www.abb.com) is a global leader in power and automation
technologies that enable utility and industry customers
to improve performance while lowering environmental
impact. ABB has 139,000 employees in more than 100 countries.
Sherrie Ford founded the Center for Continuous Improvement
at Athens Tech with a mission to develop leadership
and vision at all levels in an organization. The Center’s
local manufacturing successes led Ford to create Change
Partners, L.L.C. in 1996. Steve Hollis, who became involved
with the Center initially as a Georgia Pacific executive,
joined Change Partners six months after the organizational
consulting firm was established. Change Partners serves
clients in the manufacturing and service sectors, and
the manufacturing organization ABB has just sold to
Ford and Hollis has been one of Change Partners’
clients. For more information about Change Partners,
visit www.changepartners.com on the Web.
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