Falk Corporation

Infobox_Company
company_name = The Falk Corporation
owner = Rexnord
company_
company_type = Subsidiary of Rexnord
company_slogan = "Falk A good name in industry"
foundation = 1892
location_city = Milwaukee, Wisconsin
location_country = USA
key_people =
num_employees = 1,100 (2004) [http://www.reliableplant.com/article.asp?articleid=102 Rexnord to Buy Falk for $295 Million] from 7/2005]
industry = Manufacturing
revenue = $200 million (2004)
products = Industrial power transmission solutions
homepage = [http://falk.rexnord.com/ falk.rexnord.com] The Falk Corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin are designers, manufacturers, and marketers of non-electrical precision industrial power transmission products for medium and heavy-duty industrial applications.

History

The company was founded by Franz Falk. Falk was from Germany and worked at a brewery. In 1848 he left Germany to find work in the United States. In 1856, Falk in a partnership with Frederick Goes, bought a piece of land in the Menomonee River Valley located on the outskirts of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and began to build a brewery. The brewery was named "The Bavaria Brewery". Falk died in 1882 and his sons Louis, Frank, Otto, and Herman took over the business. The brewery was destroyed in 1889 by a fire. The brewery was rebuilt again in 1892, but it again was destroyed by a fire. The two sons would sell the brewery to Frederick Pabst.

Herman Falk decided to start his own business with his share of brewery money. With an interest in mechanics, Falk began producing wagon axles. His business would fail and Herman began a general purpose machine shop. The shop was located next to a building of the Pabst Brewing Company, next to where he worked years before. Falk would even work with Pabst at times, making stage machinery for the Pabst Theater located in Milwaukee. In 1888 Falk began working with electric street railways. He developed a portable cast welding machine on wheels that would earn his share of work in the rail industry. His invention helped him incorporate "Falk Manufacturing Company" on May 23, 1895. Herman Falk broadened his work, opening gear shops. The company was shortened to the "Falk Company". The company eventually expanded world-wide. [ [http://falk.rexnord.com/company-info/history.asp Falk Corporation History] obtained 12/06/2006] In 2005 the company was bought by Rexnord. [ [http://www.powertransmission.com/news.php?in=359 Rexnord Buys Falk for $295 Million] obtained 12/06/2006]

Falk explosion

On December 6, 2006, one of Falk's factories exploded. The factory was the location of the original Falk brewery and original machine shop in the Menomonee River Valley. The explosion was caused by a container of 72,000 gallons of propane. The building was destroyed in a fire caused by the explosion. The explosion happened during testing of the factory's backup natural gas supply. While testing, some of the natural gas leaked onto the ground. When the vapors from the gas were in the air, a spark came in contact with the vapors, causing the explosion. Three people, Curtis J. Lane, 38, from Oconomowoc; Thomas M. Letendre, 49, from Milwaukee; and Daniel T. Kuster, 35, from Mayville were killed and forty-six injured as a result of the explosion. The blast was even felt in other county cities, like New Berlin and Brookfield, in the neighboring Waukesha County. About 125 Milwaukee Fire Department personnel were on the scene. On December 19th of 2006 , Rexnord's website reported that 500 workers affected by the blast had returned to work. In March 2007, the families of the three workers killed in the explosion filed a lawsuit against the company that was testing the natural gas supply, J.M. Brennan. Brennan argues that if Falk maintained the pipe correctly, the explosion would not have happened. The lawsuit is still undergoing. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/07/us/07explosion.html Warehouse Blast in Milwaukee Kills 3 and Injures Dozens] from New York Times, 12/06/2006] [ [http://www.channel3000.com/news/11265520/detail.html Engineering Firm Says It's Not To Blame For Falk Blast] from WISC-TV, 12/06/2006] [ [http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=538906 A hint of trouble, then tragedy] from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12/06/2006]

References

External links

* [http://www.powertransmission.com/copage/falk.htm Falk Corporation official website]
* [http://www.rexnord.com/ Rexnord official website]