Family firm keeps growing

By Noni Bookbinder Bell

Special to the BCT

MOORESTOWN – With nearly 40 years’ experience, the Vermes family has grown its business by performing precision machine work on critical components for a broad range of industrial, military and transportation-related applications.

It’s grown to the point where the Vermes Machine Co. is expanding to a 4-acre, 23,000-square-foot Moorestown facility, a site the firm is now buying. The move more than doubled the company’s square footage. It had previously leased the 10,000-square-foot Cinnaminson location it had operated from since 1977.

The owners, brothers Erwin M.Vermes, 40, of Delran, and Michael G. Vermes, Jr., 36, of Cinnaminson took over the company from their father, Michael G. Vermes, Sr. in 1991.

The shop makes precision machine products for major industries across the nation. In 1960, Vermes Machine started with five employees and since has grown to 30.

Michael G. Vermes, Sr. started the business after he escaped the Hungarian revolt of 1956, when his homeland was embroiled in a bloody battle for independence from the Soviet Union. He came to Ellis Island and was sponsored by another Hungarian couple living in Philadelphia. He served his apprenticeship in Hungary. He worked for a Philadelphia company for 18 months then started his own machine shop. Over the years he had a few different partners. Then in 1977 when Erwin, was 19, he and my father started Vermes Machine Co., Inc.

"I joined the business in 1980," he said. "We both had been working in the business since we were young teen-agers in high school, and we were taught by our father. At that time, we had six employees and stayed that way through 1991.

"My father retired then and in 1991, we did a large expansion of machinery and purchased four new turning centers, a computerized lathe and a computerized machining center."

The enlargement was financed through company capital and a PNC Bank business loan. The new equipment required a large cash outlay. "PNC has been a big part of this whole expansion," Vermes said. There is a very big capital investment in our business.

Vermes employs skilled labor and provides on-the-job training, as well. "We have seven CNC Programmers and set up men," Vermes said. "The machines do the rest."

Future plans for the company include acquisition of a state-of-the-art turning center with a bar feeder for specialized machining, Vermes said.

"We do work in the tri-state area, and also have customers all over the country,: Vermes said. "We go to California, Indiana, Texas, Oklahoma. Both Mike and Erwin do sales, and we have three other salespeople as well," he said. "Often, our company is known through word of mouth. One customer had a machine in California that needed parts, and they got in touch with a designer. He said, ‘If anyone can do it and make it right, Vermes can.’

"We have a good reputation in the industry and plan to continue to grown while maintaining our strict quality control standards," he said. "We are a high quality machining company looking constantly to expand our customer base and facilities, moving onward and upward into the year 2000."

COMPANY FOCUS
Vermes Machine Co., Inc.
Address: 351 Crider Ave.,
Moorestown NJ 08057
Owners: Erwin M. Vermes and
Michael G. Vermes, Jr.
Employees: 30
Telephone: 642-9300
Fax: 642-9302