Kimball Spinoff Spinning Success Story

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When Jasper-based Kimball International Inc. (Nasdaq: KBALL) announced the spinoff of its electronics unit in 2014, it was described as a move to reinvent a company that for years had been a profitable, but odd mix of office furniture and electronics. Nearly three years later, the result is a company on track to become Indiana’s next billion dollar business. "It’s a really exciting time for us," said Kimball Electronics Inc. (Nasdaq: KE) Chief Executive officer Don Charron, in an interview on Inside INdiana Business Television. "As a stand-alone, public company, we have been able to focus and accelerate our growth initiatives." That’s welcome news for the company’s global workforce of more than 4,500, including 700 in Indiana.

Charron says the company is focused on four business lines, each with opportunities for growth.

Since the spinoff, Kimball Electronics has organized around four key lines of business:  automotive, medical devices, industrial and public safety.

The company’s product portfolio includes everything from anti-locking brake systems and power steering controls, which it has manufactured for more than 35 years, to electronic components for police body cameras and a variety of security applications.  

Charron says the medical device business, fueled by the acquisition of two Indianapolis contract manufacturers, now represents "30 percent of the total company, and growing." Kimball acquired Aircom Manufacturing Inc. and an Aircom unit, Medivative Technologies LLC, in 2015.

Kimball Electronics was founded in 1961 as the Jasper Electronics Manufacturing Company. The company has manufacturing facilities in Jasper, Indianapolis and Tampa, Florida and a global footprint that includes facilities in Mexico, Poland, Romania, Thailand and China.

Fiscal Year 2016 revenues topped $842 million and Charron says the company is on track to top one $1 billion in by FY 2018. "We’ve got some work to do yet there, but we’re on path," said Charron. "It’s been a goal we’ve set for ourselves for quite some time now and it would be a great accomplishment for us."

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