June 13, 1998
National Machinery president wins entrepreneurship award
By Michael Culp
Staff Writer
National Machinery Co.'s president says he isn't used to the spotlight.
But the 54-year-old Paul Aley hardly could have avoided the bright lights Thursday night at The Pinnacle, a convention center in Maumee, after he was one of seven to win the Northwest Ohio Entrepreneur of the Year award, which honors entrepreneurs in nearly every industry in the region.
''I was the first person to receive an award,'' Aley said Friday. ''And soon, the spotlight was on me. I really didn't know what to do next except to say that this award really signifies the hard work of all the employees at National Machinery, including me.''
Nominated earlier this year for the award -- established about 10 years ago by Ernst & Young -- Aley competed against 45 other candidates who comprised the first field selected by six judges. Next, the judges winnowed down the nominees to 15 and then selected the seven awarded last night.
In November, Aley, who in 1985 became National Machinery president, and the other award winners will travel to Palm Springs, Calif., where they will compete for the national Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Aley said the award likely reflected National Machinery's recovery from debts in the early to mid-1980s. In 1984, the company, which no longer could compete with overseas manufacturers, was $90 million in debt and had more than $100 million of unsold inventory.
Then, when Aley became president in 1985, National Machinery's former profit sharing plan couldn't pay the retirement benefits due from the plan. One of Aley's primary goals as president was to complete these payments in the future.
In the next five years, National Machinery, under Aley's leadership, eliminated cash-flow problems, sold off or disposed of excess inventory and closed smaller plants, Aley said.
The company also focused on new products, including a new cold-forming machine line in 1989 called Formax.
By 1993, National Machinery re-established its leading position in the manufacture of high-speed, metal parts-forming machines. That same year, the company's showed its first substantial profit.
With the company's success, National Machinery also has paid in full all payments due from the company's former profit-sharing plan.
''This award shows the extraordinary effort on the part of the people at National Machinery,'' Aley said. ''The people didn't change. The only thing that changed was our management vision. This effort was not a direct result of Paul Aley, but the effort included me.''
Aley joined National Machinery in 1979, when he worked in the shop building heavy machinery for forming metal. The next year, Aley went to the finance department where he stayed until he became president.