This is the fourth in a five-part series on NH's top family-owned businesses.
Marcel Mercier, founder, left, and Nick Mercier, CEO. Photo by Christine Carignan.
It’s been a big year for this Hooksett-based metal fabricator. In April, Macy Industries launched Pilot Innovations, an advanced composites manufacturer, and in May, founder Marcel Mercier accepted a lifetime achievement award from the Center for Family Business at the University of NH. Marcel Mercier founded the company in 1975 and takes pride in still working with 70 percent of Macy’s original customers. Macy offers a wide range of metal products, including industrial fabrications like platforms, dust collectors and HVAC components; copper countertops; and custom artwork.
Revenue is up 67 percent this year, says Nick Mercier, Marcel’s son and CEO of the company. Macy’s workforce has also increased 35 percent from last year to just under 40 employees.
“We’re a family business and take it to heart,” Nick Mercier adds. Since most clients come to Macy without a product outline or solution to their problem, “We work with customers to give them a solution from [just and idea],” he says.
Macy found success in diversification. The company counts among its clients BAE Systems, GE, Saint Gobain, Sturm and Ruger, Summit Packaging and Velcro. It also makes a diverse array of products for various industries, including sinks and exhaust system hoods for restaurants, stainless steel door casings for hotels and bump guards for supermarkets. Large municipal projects include the metal archways that adorn downtown Manchester and large swings for Boston Common.
In 2010, U.S. Special Operations Command approached Macy to create a lightweight, durable, collapsible metal ladder that could be carried in the field. Realizing the challenge of completing the project using metal, Macy designed a retractable carbon fiber ladder that extends to 18 feet and can accommodate up to 1,000 pounds but weighs only 18 pounds. That project led to the launch of Pilot Innovations for manufacturing composite projects, which Nick Mercier expects to grow 50 percent in the coming year.
“We will 3D print composites out of carbon fiber or plastics before building the infrastructure to [manufacture] and show the customer this is what we can give and do it in a fraction of the time,” Nick Mercier says.
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Current Issue - May 2024