Former Vise-Grip employees find hope -- and a job -- at reopened DeWitt plant

Rentschler, who lives in the Saline County town of about 500 people, is a process specialist at the newly opened Malco manufacturing plant that was once home to Vise-Grip -- and Rentschler's old job.

In October, Minnesota-based Malco Products announced the plant would once again make a locking tool similar to the iconic Vise-Grip -- this one called the Eagle Grip.

Rentschler worked for 20 years before Newell Rubbermaid shuttered the DeWitt plant in 2008 and shipped Vise-Grip production overseas. 

"Since I own a house in town, I guess when the plant was closed, it made you realize how much your house is really worth," Rentschler said in early February. "When it reopened, the town was excited about it. Whenever I come in contact with someone in town, (they say) it means a lot."

After losing his job, Rentschler spent some time studying graphic design but had trouble finding jobs in the field and worked at a Lincoln car dealership.

"It paid well, but I lived in DeWitt," he said. "I wanted a job here."

The return of locking-plier production was the perfect fit. As a process specialist, he's one of the around 10 employees gearing up for production this spring. 

Since Malco purchased the plant in 2016, it's been busy bringing it back to life -- reinstalling utilities, specific equipment and lighting, working on the infrastructure.

After Vise-Grip left, the building was essentially gutted and used only for storage, according to plant superintendent Lucas Runke.

"This was 8 acres of concrete floor," he said. "There was nothing inside." 

When everything is set, production can begin on the Eagle Grip -- a tool with the basic design of locking pliers but with improved quality and strength, Runke said. Malco's tools are mostly geared to the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning industry, but Runke said they will be sold through distributors to various retailers.

Manufacturing roots run deep in DeWitt, where Danish immigrant Bill Petersen invented the Vise-Grip in 1915 and began production after he patented the locking plier design in 1924. Petersen Manufacturing Co., which later became Irwin Industrial Tools, was purchased by American Tool in 1993. Newell Rubbermaid then purchased American Tool in 2002 before leaving DeWitt six years later.

At its height, the plant had more than 600 employees in DeWitt. For a time, American Tool also operated a second plant in Beatrice with more than 200 workers.

Runke said manufacturing's return to DeWitt is symbolic -- the Malco plant opened 10 years after the Vise-Grip plant closed.

He said he understands why people feel the way that they do about the plant's closing, and that Malco can bring back more than just manufacturing to DeWitt. 

"Everyone that is working down here has the feeling that they're part of something special," said Runke, who previously worked in Malco's main facility in Annandale, Minnesota. "We're trying to build a company in a new place that's going to stand the test of time and give people the opportunity to buy more American-made products."

Ron Packett worked for years in both the DeWitt and Beatrice plants. He's now a tool and die specialist with Malco.

"You see some of the former employees, and they're all for it," Packett said.

While the plant currently only has a handful of workers, there are plans to hire more throughout the year as more equipment is installed and the product line is launched.

That will mean a lot for DeWitt, a town many people left when their jobs disappeared. Runke, a fellow Midwesterner, sees only opportunity in Malco's move to expand here.

"Making the decision to come down here wasn't just about taking another job," he said. "It was about being part of something special."