By Chris Mc Loone

Since 1987, a small Midwest company, Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company (Midwest Fire), has been manufacturing tankers, tanker-pumpers, brush trucks, and quick-attack/rescue vehicles.

In 2013, a group of investors led by Sarah Atchison purchased Midwest Fire. Atchison serves as the company’s owner and CEO. Since that time, the company and Atchison have received accolades including a Top 25 Women in Business award for Atchison and being named one of the the 50 best places to work in the Upper Plains. Although it is a small company, Midwest Fire has enjoyed success specializing in specific types of apparatus and remaining a factory-direct seller of fire trucks.

Changing Ownership

According to Atchison, the time was right to purchase Midwest Fire when she did. Founders Scott and Pam Schneekloth sold the company to Atchison and family members Lyle and Jane Gessell. The decision to purchase the company was in large part because it fit a mission to work with small, Midwestern manufacturing operations developing products that help save lives. Additionally, Atchison was at a point in her life where it made sense to take on the challenge of leading the company. “I had spent more than 15 years working part time as a dental hygienist and being home with our two daughters,” says Atchison. “So, it was really good timing for me because my girls were at good ages for me to pursue this next opportunity.”

Atchison did not come into the business without experience. Her husband, Dean, has owned his own business-Spectrum Aeromed-for eight years. “It was a turnaround company that was essentially bankrupt when he purchased it in 2007,” she says. “I’ve been able to watch his success with his company, and when he was ready to take a next step and purchase another company, he thought I would be a good fit for Midwest Fire.” Still, Atchison wasn’t completely ready to take the plunge. “It took some persuasion from Dean because I didn’t know if I was up for the challenge,” she adds. “But after spending the past two years at Midwest Fire, I am certain I made the right choice. I think my more than 15 years of experience working in private practice has helped me in this role as well. Customer service is such a critical component in the dental field, and I am able to apply those skills here as well. My number-one priority is the customers and making sure we are being responsive and listening to their needs.”

1 Most of the fire apparatus Midwest Fire Equiment & Repair Company builds are tanker-pumpers with All-Poly® tanks and bodies that have lifetime warranties and almost any type of Darley, Hale, or Waterous pump. (Photos courtesy of Midwest Fire Equipment & Repair Company.)

Atchison says that she was fortunate when she acquired the company because it already had a solid team in place. Right away, her team enlisted Enterprise MN to guide the group through a comprehensive strategic planning process to determine the current state of the company and where its customers need it to go as it moves forward. “We put a number of aggressive action plans into place, and the team worked extremely hard to make these improvements happen,” Atchison says. “Initially, we put a substantial amount of time and effort into getting our sales ramped up. We identified a professional market

Richard Marinucci

Aerial trucks provide a core function for fire departments. Whether you have a straight stick, ladder tower, bucket, ladder truck, or whatever you use to provide for the traditional jobs associated with these vehicles, you may be questioned as to their need-not because of the functionality but because of the cost.

As the number and severity of fires in many communities decline, policymakers and bean counters look at these vehicles as luxuries they cannot afford anymore. If they are successful in defunding such apparatus, departments will be challenged to provide the services necessary on many fire scenes as well as other related emergencies. Organizations are best positioned when they continually evaluate their needs and can clearly articulate benefits.

Different Approaches

Anyone who has been around for any length of time realizes that many of the emergencies to which departments respond can be handled with fewer personnel than those who respond on the first alarm. Of course, when the 911 center receives the call, it almost always starts as a true emergency to those placing the call. This requires an adequate response to deliver the best possible service. In many cases, resolving the problem does not require all the units initially dispatched. But, departments must prepare and respond as if each case will require the necessary number of personnel and the corresponding apparatus and equipment. Departments cannot allow complacency to set in, and a failure to be ready could result in disaster if the emergency is such that it requires the full response.

It is here where emergency service personnel differ in their approach from politicians (policymakers) and finance people (bean counters). True fire service professionals know that you need to front load resources to achieve a desired outcome. It is better to turn around responding companies if you don’t need them than to be short in cases where a situation clearly warrants full service. The right number of people needs to arrive in the moments that matter. Even in ideal circumstances, this may not always be possible because of multiple incidents occurring at the same time, inadequate staffing (for whatever reason), or vehicles out of service for repair. Yet, the policymakers and bean counters put a price on public safety when they apportion funding to the fire service.

Validation

This is where the fire service needs to really understand its mission and role in the community and be capable of explaining how things work. Justifying an expensive piece of apparatus is a challenge and probably the second most difficult thing to do other than convincing those in charge of the resources required to provide more-some would say adequate or minimal-staffing. With the cost of ladder trucks approaching or exceeding $1 million, there should be no surprise when those with the financial responsibility in the community begin to ask questions. Stating that you need something without good justification will most likely lead to failure. You need to be prepared to validate your reasons.

Start by asking yourself the questions those outside the profession are going to ask: Why do you need such an expensive piece? What exactly does it do? Isn’t there another, more inexpensive, way to provide the functionality? View this from their perspective and look for ways to translate answers into terms that a layperson could understand better. To many in the public, a fire truck is a fire truck. They don’t know the difference, or they recall a hook and

Richard Marinucci

Aerial trucks provide a core function for fire departments. Whether you have a straight stick, ladder tower, bucket, ladder truck, or whatever you use to provide for the traditional jobs associated with these vehicles, you may be questioned as to their need-not because of the functionality but because of the cost.

As the number and severity of fires in many communities decline, policymakers and bean counters look at these vehicles as luxuries they cannot afford anymore. If they are successful in defunding such apparatus, departments will be challenged to provide the services necessary on many fire scenes as well as other related emergencies. Organizations are best positioned when they continually evaluate their needs and can clearly articulate benefits.

Different Approaches

Anyone who has been around for any length of time realizes that many of the emergencies to which departments respond can be handled with fewer personnel than those who respond on the first alarm. Of course, when the 911 center receives the call, it almost always starts as a true emergency to those placing the call. This requires an adequate response to deliver the best possible service. In many cases, resolving the problem does not require all the units initially dispatched. But, departments must prepare and respond as if each case will require the necessary number of personnel and the corresponding apparatus and equipment. Departments cannot allow complacency to set in, and a failure to be ready could result in disaster if the emergency is such that it requires the full response.

It is here where emergency service personnel differ in their approach from politicians (policymakers) and finance people (bean counters). True fire service professionals know that you need to front load resources to achieve a desired outcome. It is better to turn around responding companies if you don’t need them than to be short in cases where a situation clearly warrants full service. The right number of people needs to arrive in the moments that matter. Even in ideal circumstances, this may not always be possible because of multiple incidents occurring at the same time, inadequate staffing (for whatever reason), or vehicles out of service for repair. Yet, the policymakers and bean counters put a price on public safety when they apportion funding to the fire service.

Validation

This is where the fire service needs to really understand its mission and role in the community and be capable of explaining how things work. Justifying an expensive piece of apparatus is a challenge and probably the second most difficult thing to do other than convincing those in charge of the resources required to provide more-some would say adequate or minimal-staffing. With the cost of ladder trucks approaching or exceeding $1 million, there should be no surprise when those with the financial responsibility in the community begin to ask questions. Stating that you need something without good justification will most likely lead to failure. You need to be prepared to validate your reasons.

Start by asking yourself the questions those outside the profession are going to ask: Why do you need such an expensive piece? What exactly does it do? Isn’t there another, more inexpensive, way to provide the functionality? View this from their perspective and look for ways to translate answers into terms that a layperson could understand better. To many in the public, a fire truck is a fire truck. They don’t know the difference, or they recall a hook and

Richard Marinucci

Aerial trucks provide a core function for fire departments. Whether you have a straight stick, ladder tower, bucket, ladder truck, or whatever you use to provide for the traditional jobs associated with these vehicles, you may be questioned as to their need-not because of the functionality but because of the cost.

As the number and severity of fires in many communities decline, policymakers and bean counters look at these vehicles as luxuries they cannot afford anymore. If they are successful in defunding such apparatus, departments will be challenged to provide the services necessary on many fire scenes as well as other related emergencies. Organizations are best positioned when they continually evaluate their needs and can clearly articulate benefits.

Different Approaches

Anyone who has been around for any length of time realizes that many of the emergencies to which departments respond can be handled with fewer personnel than those who respond on the first alarm. Of course, when the 911 center receives the call, it almost always starts as a true emergency to those placing the call. This requires an adequate response to deliver the best possible service. In many cases, resolving the problem does not require all the units initially dispatched. But, departments must prepare and respond as if each case will require the necessary number of personnel and the corresponding apparatus and equipment. Departments cannot allow complacency to set in, and a failure to be ready could result in disaster if the emergency is such that it requires the full response.

It is here where emergency service personnel differ in their approach from politicians (policymakers) and finance people (bean counters). True fire service professionals know that you need to front load resources to achieve a desired outcome. It is better to turn around responding companies if you don’t need them than to be short in cases where a situation clearly warrants full service. The right number of people needs to arrive in the moments that matter. Even in ideal circumstances, this may not always be possible because of multiple incidents occurring at the same time, inadequate staffing (for whatever reason), or vehicles out of service for repair. Yet, the policymakers and bean counters put a price on public safety when they apportion funding to the fire service.

Validation

This is where the fire service needs to really understand its mission and role in the community and be capable of explaining how things work. Justifying an expensive piece of apparatus is a challenge and probably the second most difficult thing to do other than convincing those in charge of the resources required to provide more-some would say adequate or minimal-staffing. With the cost of ladder trucks approaching or exceeding $1 million, there should be no surprise when those with the financial responsibility in the community begin to ask questions. Stating that you need something without good justification will most likely lead to failure. You need to be prepared to validate your reasons.

Start by asking yourself the questions those outside the profession are going to ask: Why do you need such an expensive piece? What exactly does it do? Isn’t there another, more inexpensive, way to provide the functionality? View this from their perspective and look for ways to translate answers into terms that a layperson could understand better. To many in the public, a fire truck is a fire truck. They don’t know the difference, or they recall a hook and