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LINDER
LOCATION -- This is the now-idle ex-Hissem plant in the Ossian
Industrial Park on County Road 850N, just west of the railroad tracks,
where Linder Oil Co. of New Haven aims to relocate late this year. By JIM BARBIERI
Linder Oil Company Inc., currently of New Haven, will be moving to Ossian in late December, the company announced Monday, in conjunction with a meeting with Ossian Development Corp. representatives.
Linder (called LOC) has purchased the currently vacant plant previously owned and occupied by D L. Hissem Inc. in the Ossian Industrial Park.
It is the facility originally built as the Acme Waste Recycling Plant (no longer operating) and subsequently acquired by Hissem for that now-discontinued operation.
Robert Marshall, Linder president, said the company will be moving its complete facility and 14 jobs to the Ossian location.
Linder, founded in 1978 and with expected annual sales of $10 million, is an independent blender and distributor of petroleum lubricants for the industrial market and fits in well with the industrial park, it was noted.
Related was that Linder has outgrown its New Haven facility and had been searching unsuccessfully for a suitable relocation site for about five years.
The ownership wanted to stay near the present site but became tired of waiting.
“The Ossian property opened a door for future growth that could not be denied,’’ stated the company president, Marshall.
Other employees were related as remarking that the “serenity” of a smaller town appealed to them.
While the move will bring 14 new jobs to Wells County, all of these 14 positions will be filled by current employees, it was pointed out. However, in noting the additional room and rail spur capacity, Donna Nijack, the general manager, projected that the job count will climb.
The ex-Hissem facility, just west of the tracks in the Ossian Industrial Park at Ossian’s south end, is right along the Norfolk Southern’s main north-south route, a nation-leading freight connector between the frost-belt and sun-belt states.
According to Doug Ford, Linder’s safety director, the larger building offers advantages to the employees and the environment. The tanks are to be stored inside, away from the weather conditions that create safety and environmental issues.
“This also brings a savings in energy consumption,’’ Ford explained. He noted that many of the oils have to be heated to an elevated temperature for storing and most of them heated before blending.
Keeping the product at room temperature should cut the energy consumption by 35 percent in the summer and over 60 percent in the winter, it was predicted.
Garry Jones, in representing the Wells County Chamber of Commerce-Economic Development on behalf of the Ossian Industrial Park progress, said attention was given by Ossian Development to the environmental considerations with oils.
However, it was learned that what is handled out of the company in asphalts, dust suppressant and other oil-lubricant lines had no greater requirements than what already is in place and in use already in other plants in the Ossian Industrial Park and its rail spur, Jones said.
Revenue benefits are foreseen for the town of Ossian and Wells County, according to the announcement.
The company owns a small fleet of trucks and moves over three million gallons of petroleum a year to serve local, regional and national customers.
Growth projections due to the relocation range from 70 percent the first year to an average of 25 percent for the next four years.
“This will set a new benchmark for our company. Linder Oil Company is looking forward to the moves,’’ declared Dianna Arnold, office manager and customer service coordinator.
Linder Oil Company Inc. or LOC is what is classified as an independent compounder-blender of petroleum products.
As explained, LOC purchases base oils and additives and blends them (creates a compound) to the specifications of the customers.
Some of the finished products are unique to a specific customer, but the majority of the blends have standard specifications.
LOC also uses a large portion of the purchased base oils for resale as process oils (any product used as a raw material). The company said its specialty is in being flexible and responsive.
In amplifying further, it was related that LOC has the capability to create the standard products but also to create special blends for unique applications or situations.
Company president Marshall, with his education and degree in chemistry plus years of experience, along with the help of vendors, thus, makes LOC well prepared for the challenges of developing special formulas for specialty applications.
Reported was that such is utilized in serving such customers as Steel Dynamics in Columbia City.
“Their million-dollar equipment may function more efficiently or last longer if the normally standard gear oil or hydraulic oil is blended thinner or thicker, or a unique additive or additional additives are used,’’ the LOC announcement elaborated.
Added was that the turn-around time on a special blend is the same as the standard products for Linder Oil, thus affording LOC a large opportunity that branded distributors do not have.
Other competitive pluses for Linder were cited as including owning its own fleet of trucks, handling the scheduling in-house and internal coordination between customer service, production and transportation.
Stated is that this gives Linder the ability to respond to deliveries many times in a matter of hours instead of days or even weeks. Strategically hiring owner operators that reside near the source of base oil has contributed to the ability to respond to the process oil customers as well, it was noted.
LOC’s business was described as a bi-fold plan -- selling blended product and on the other hand non-blended or straight product that is used for processing.
Both blended and straight can be sold in drums, totes and small bulk quantities, or by full tanker truckloads of 6,000 gallons or more.
The majority of LOC’s customers have been served by LOC for over 15 years.
Included among Linder customers are Energy Control at Ossian for de-dust products, BRC at Bluffton, Montpelier, Hartford City, Ligonier and Churubusco for process oils, hydraulic oils and grease; the Wells County Highway Department in Bluffton for engine oil, universal tractor fluid and grease, and Expert Transmission at Bluffton and Decatur for automatic transmission fluid. LOC said more new customers were landed last year than in the prior three years.
Average years of service of employees is give as 8.75 years. The average wage for salaries (excluding officers) is $46,700. The average hourly wage is $13.61 including parttime.
In the Linder environmental explanations, it was noted that all the products the company carries are non-carcinogenic and do not pose a threat to the air if vaporized. All but one product have flash points over 275 degrees Fahrenheit and this means they are not regulated by the Department of Transportation.
(The one with a lower flash point will not be housed inside the building.)
Products do pose a potential marine hazard and cannot be released into any water stream. All employees are specially trained to deal quickly with the situation if a spill would occur but also in procedures to prevent spills. If any would occur, such must be reported immediately.
The new location at Ossian is indicated a benefit for safety and environmental protection as well as a business gain.
By JIM BARBIERI
-- Linder Oil was launched in May of 1978 in the home of Robert J.
Marshall, who continues as president and owner along with his wife.
-- The company is now located at 209 Lincoln Highway East in New Haven
where there are a 13-tank farm, blend building, warehouse, seven trucks
and two rental homes.
-- Marshall has been employed in the petroleum business since 1967. He
turned his chemical education background into a powerful selling tool
through the Sun Corporation sales training program. After nine years
with Sun, he came to work for the Gladieux Refinery in Fort Wayne and
eventually went out on his own to launch Linder.
-- Over the past several years, the Linder annual sales have averaged
between 3.5 million and 4.4 million dollars, with inflation making a
tighter squeeze on margins and with base oil price volatility
increasing the past 12 months. Not unlike other small, independent
compounder-blenders in the field, Linder Oil Company needs to grow. The
company has instituted changes to meet the current and projected needs
with a larger facility and ideal rail spur at Ossian said key moves for
that growth.
PRODUCT LINES:
-- White (Mineral) Oil, including Dedust Oil, Egg Coating, Baker’s Oil,
Meat Packing, Specialty Needs, Food Grade & Tech Grade.
-- Process Oils
-- Hydraulic Oils
-- Cutting Oils
-- Coolants
-- Way Oils
-- Quench Oils
-- Greases
-- Engine Oils & ATF
-- Gear Oils
-- Compressor Oil
-- Oil Dri
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