Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Acme Monaco, a wire forming company located at Skyway Industrial Park, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in the Star City.
The world’s largest producer of orthodontic hardware, Acme Monaco first opened its doors in Presque Isle Sept. 1, 1989. Since the opening, the company has added different product lines including commercial springs, wire forms, snap rings for the ball bearing industry, and other orthodontic products.
Plant Manager Mark Jarrett said the company now features two facilities in Presque Isle and roughly 50 employees.
“At our 205 Cross St. facility, we primarily produce orthodontic hardware,” said Jarrett. “We make over 20 million orthodontic arches a year, and they’re pretty well shipped all over the world. About 30 percent of our sales are export sales.
“We also make some commercial product, as well,” he said. “We make components that go into the surgical guidewires which are either assembled and packaged in the New Britain, Conn. facility or at our 500 Central Drive location.”
With nine employees presently located at the Central Drive facility, Jarrett said the company is looking to start a second shift there.
Acme Monaco was founded in New Britain, Conn. as Acme Spring, Inc. in 1947 as a manufacturer of custom spring products. During the 1950s, with the help of New Departure-Hyatt, Division of General Motors Corp., the process for the manufacturing of miniature ball bearing retainer rings was developed and soon became the company’s major product line.
The business was purchased by John Karabin in 1965 and is currently administered by his son, Michael Karabin, chief executive officer/chairman of the board and his children, Lucas Karabin, executive vice president, and Rebecca Karabin-Ahern, executive vice president, making this a third generation company. Thomas Sebastian joined the company in 2001 and held the position of chief financial officer. On Jan. 1, 2008, Sebastian became president of Acme Monaco.
According to the company’s Web site, the product line was expanded to include orthodontic hardware in 1970. The addition of rolling and wire shaping soon followed allowing the company to manufacture its own shaped, straightened and cut wire in-house. Monaco Spring, a custom manufacturer of springs, wireforms, and stampings, was purchased in 1971. Non-sterile medical assemblies, such as surgical staples, guidewires and stylets, were added to the product line in 1983. The two companies were merged in 1984 to form Acme Monaco. Currently, both the orthodontic hardware and medical components are sold only to the original equipment manufacturers and distributors. All parts are custom made to customers’ specifications, and none of the products are sold directly to the end users, such as doctors or hospitals.
Jarrett started with Acme Monaco as its assistant plant manager in May 1996. He is a native of Fort Kent. Other longtime employees include Michelle Cushman, office manager, who started in 1990, while Valerie Levesque, leadperson in the archwire department, and Larry Bubar, chief inspector and assistant plant manager, have been with the company since it first opened in Presque Isle.
Larry Clark, executive director of the Presque Isle Industrial Council, was instrumental in bringing Acme Monaco to the city.
“This office was first contacted by the company in the fall of 1988,” said Clark. “Michael Karabin called and advised that his company was looking to expand and had some interest in looking at our area here.
“As a result of those conversations, four individuals visited Presque Isle and the building that they’re now in back in early January 1989. I’ll never forget that day; it had to be one of the coldest, coldest days that we had,” he said. “Fortunately, they shrugged that off and looked at the building. Shortly thereafter we made a proposal. The president of the Industrial Council and I flew to New Britain, Conn. and they showed us around the factory. Then we made a presentation as to what we could do with the building, what the rates would be, and soon after that they accepted our proposal.”
The next three months were spent renovating the building, which had more recently been used for storage. Acme Monaco moved into a portion of the building in September 1989.
“The building is about 8,800 square feet,” said Clark, “and originally they just took a little over 5,000. The company eventually grew to the point where they took the remainder of the building.
“In 2006, as the company continued to grow, we rented them another building here at the park which was 2,000 square feet and that’s when they established the medical division,” he said. “That has grown to the point where we put an addition on there this summer for them and increased the space by a little over 600 square feet.”
Clark said it’s been wonderful having Acme Monaco part of the Presque Isle economic base.
“They have been just an excellent, excellent company to work with and they were from Day One,” he said. “They have provided jobs for this area, and there’s been continued growth. We appreciate them for selecting Presque Isle to locate and how they’ve grown over the years. We hope they’re here for another 20 years or more.”
Jarrett said the business has grown a lot over the last two decades.
“We’ve grown production-wise,” he said. “When I started, we were producing 12 million orthodontic arches a year … now we’re up to 20 million wires. We added our second local facility in 2006, and we’ve grown from eight employees to 50. It’s been a steady growth.
“This is our 20th year in Presque Isle,” said Jarrett, “and we’re very proud to be a part of this great community. Acme Monaco is looking forward to doing business in Presque Isle for many more years to come.”
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
ACME MONACO, a wire forming company located at Skyway Industrial Park, recently celebrated its 20th anniversary in Presque Isle. The world’s largest producer of orthodontic hardware, Acme Monaco first opened its doors in the city Sept. 1, 1989. Since the opening, the company has added different product lines including commercial springs, wire forms, snap rings for the ball bearing industry, and other orthodontic products. To commemorate the 20th anniversary, employees recently gathered for a group photo. Pictured holding the banner are, from left: Valerie Levesque, lead person in the archwire department, and Larry Bubar, chief inspector and assistant plant manager, both of whom have been with the company since it first opened in Presque Isle.
