The Wright County Minnesota Economic Development Partnership recently named Malco Products SBC its High Economic Vitality Business of the Year for 2017. Malco President and CEO, Mardon Quandt, accepted the award for the company and shared that Malco had made it through the “Great Recession” without any layoffs, has since added almost 20 jobs, and that 2017 was not only a record year for revenues but also for profit. The award “is another confirmation to us that we’re doing the right things,” said Quandt. “The housing market continues to strengthen, so that helps us a lot,” he said, but he also noted that a big contributor to Malco’s success has been its drive to innovate, a key qualification for the Wright County award. “Our efforts in new products and new markets are paying off,” Quandt said. He singled out three recent “revolutionary” Malco product innovations: a re-usable Sander for the automotive market that conforms to and holds a hand-pressed, mirror-image contour throughout the sanding operation; a Dual Sided Magnetic Hex Chuck Driver socket design that allows easy cleaning of metal shavings from the magnet and is quickly reversible for two hex sizes; and a TurboCrimper attachment, for impact drivers, that crimps round duct and stove pipe five times faster than a hand tool. Mr. Quandt says “This is the kind of stuff that really helps us continue to grow,”
