Production goes on

Stainless steel product manufacturing continues on Airpark Vista Boulevard in Dayton. It's headed by new partners with a new business plan, one they hope will keep the company from the financial catastrophe that wiped out Modern Stainless & Steel.

With assets purchased from the defunct company and a 10-year lease on the building, Sierra Stainless has the metal it needs and is firing out orders, said Daniel Neisingh, chief executive officer.

"It's a fresh start," he said Friday. "The operation is run very tight and clean, and we are aggressively hiring. What's different from us and Modern Stainless is that we are competitive in price, and also the fact that we are not carrying $6 million in debt. We are debt free."

Sierra Stainless has branched out into the dairy and water tank market. It started production in late March and has so far made 90 tanks.

"In the first month of business we are fully booked up for the wine season, which is 250 tanks," he said Friday.

Neisingh and Vince Frere, who was a minor partner in Modern Stainless with Dan Shulte, purchased all the company's equipment assets on a "one-package deal" out of Chapter 7.

Neisingh said they are negotiating to bring more partners into the business. The company hired back nine employees who had relocated to Northern Nevada from California to work for Modern Stainless. They have another 30 employees who were hired locally.

Neisingh comes from the finance side of business. He worked with his brother in a company called Neico Manufacturing in the Ukraine before returning to Minden. Neisingh graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a bachelor's degree in agriculture business, finance and re-appraisal. Frere is a master fabricator who handled the production side at Modern Stainless.

One difficult aspect of continuing a business after a bankruptcy: the relationship with creditors.

"A lot of creditors have taken a beating," Neisingh said. "We've been able to negotiate with all the creditors who had to take a write-off. We've been able to re-establish relations with them."

The loss of Modern Stainless is unfortunate, but the new business that has stepped in will be good for the area, said Ron Weisinger, executive director of the Northern Nevada Development Authority.

"A new company has come in and we got them incentives this past Wednesday," he said.

The Nevada Commission on Economic Development awarded tax and business incentives to the Lyon County manufacturer. It received about $300,000 of tax abatement and $24,000 worth of training dollars $24,000.

Neisingh said his company projections are to make as much income its first year as Modern Stainless did in its best year. According to bankruptcy documents, Modern Stainless made $4.9 million in 2003, $3.5 million in 2004 and $4.1 million in 2005.

• Contact reporter Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.