Success Story
APEX Controls
Thanks to expansion support from the MEDC’s Michigan Business Development Program, APEX Controls has grown to an “army of people” ready to tackle large-scale automation and electrical controls projects, with an unmatched collaborative culture.
Hudsonville-based APEX Controls knew that strength would come with numbers. The automation, controls systems, electrical and panel building company faced a major constraint: while they wanted to add more electricians to their in-house team, their facility was full. Increased scale would open doors for larger projects and allow APEX to create a world-class panel shop, both to support needs in Michigan and for customers nationwide.
Out of Space
“Our electrical department was a very small team back in 2022, maybe 15 people. We really wanted to be a total system integrator. Growing that team was essential; if we're doing a field installation, we need people back here that can continue to build the panels,” said Brian VanEyk, Director of Business Development at APEX. “We were out of parking, but we wanted more electricians. Quite literally, there wasn't anywhere for them to go, so we started to look around. Do we stay in Hudsonville? Do we stay in West Michigan? Do we move? Do we open locations in other states? It was all on the table.”
Lakeshore Advantage, a non-profit economic development organization supporting businesses and entrepreneurs in Allegan and Ottawa Counties, helped APEX understand some of the options available to them, including programs through Michigan Works! and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC.)
“We were started by engineers and we’re very technically oriented. We're very good at what we do, but we were stuck a little bit on how to grow,” said VanEyk. “Starting a relationship with Lakeshore Advantage was really helpful for us. We wouldn't have known otherwise that there was assistance.”
In 2023, APEX announced its plans to undertake a renovation and expansion of its facility. The project was expected to generate a total capital investment of $3 million and create 30 well-paying jobs, supported by a $200,000 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. Michigan was chosen for the project over competing sites in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
Size and Scale
Following renovation of their building, along with the purchase of an adjoining building and its parking lot, APEX has grown steadily, adding 12 employees with plans for another 4-5 soon. “We're one of the largest companies in controls in West Michigan. We can take on projects that are a lot bigger, especially with the number of engineers we have,” said VanEyk. “For some very large-scale projects, we might need 10 or 15 engineers at once to do a changeover. A food plant might shut the line down for an upgrade and only have it down for four days. We need to come in with an army of people to all attack it at once and get it ready to run again after a short downtime.”
As volumes and revenues have increased, APEX has also diversified its customer base in an important step for long-term growth. “We don't have all of our eggs in one basket,” explained Jenna DeZwaan, HR Generalist at APEX. “We're not all automotive or all food and beverage, so that when one market ebbs and flows, we're not slowing down.”
A Close-Knit Culture
To draw talented engineers and electricians, APEX also needed to update their physical space, from a dated cubicle farm and crowded shop floor to a more contemporary design that reflects their values of integrity, humility, excellence, teamwork and fun, and offers individual panel assembly workstations in the shop. Through this effort, the form of their work environment is matching their organization’s culture.
“We have a lot of really smart people in one building, engineers and electricians that are masters of their trade, but they aren’t holding that knowledge close. Knowledge flows from the top to the bottom and the bottom to the top,” said DeZwaan. “It creates a close-knit culture, because everybody knows that they can share their ideas, and it's going to be met with an open mind.”
Reflecting on the number of people now employed at APEX, VanEyk observed, “The number itself isn't important. But these people are with us a lot of their day, and to positively impact that part of their life is very important to us. I think the number is a little bit worthless, but the people matter, and each one of the numbers is a person and a family that's being supported.”