Employer Spotlight: Allied Industrial Group

Headquartered in Fenton, Allied Industrial Group is a business evolving to meet the needs of their clients. Offering machining, fabrication, and custom-engineered products, among other services, they have a wide range of products and services for their clients.

Allied Industrial Group was formed in 2017 having acquired two businesses – Talon Tool in 2015 and Allied Equipment Solutions in 2017. In the years since they were formed, they have acquired six total businesses to grow their organization.

“We’ve grown both through acquisition and organically,” says Vice President and co-owner Kevin Kramer.

It’s that growth and a commitment to their workers that has made Allied Industrial Group such a valuable asset for people looking to get into work that will make the most of their skills. Being located in Fenton has become beneficial to the business, not just due to its proximity to US-23 and I-75 but because of the local workforce.

“There’s a lot of skilled labor that comes from the surrounding rural communities,” Kramer says. “People that come from agricultural backgrounds who have had to fix a tractor or deal with farm equipment are well suited to building this type of equipment since almost everything we build is a prototype.”

The business itself offers many different services and products from what they create in-house to things they sell for partner businesses.

“There are three facets to our business,” Kramer says. “One facet is as a distributor of various industrial, commercial products. We distribute overhead rail systems, fastening equipment, screw feeding equipment, and riveting equipment. We’re dealers for them. For all the products that we sell, we service them and do field support. We are also a manufacturer as well and are essentially a large ‘job shop.’ We’re able to go from plate steel to a painted, assembled product. Finally, we have an engineering group where we’re building the tooling used in auto-plants such as lift-assists.”

“We have a very neuro-diverse workforce within our business. We like people that think outside the box,” says Kramer of their employees. “We really tried to build a business that has employees that are entrepreneurial. We’re looking for people who want to be a part of a bigger picture for something and look at the build from start to finish.”

They are looking for workers with some understanding of the work that Allied does but are willing to help them grow with additional training and education.

“We’re looking for people who have a bit of hands-on experience, a bit of CAD experience,” says Kramer. “We can mold people, though. We sponsor education through Going Pro grants and are able to pick up continuing education for any of our employees who don’t exactly have the skill set of what we’re looking for but are close. That’s really helped mold some of our people into what we’re looking for. Prior experience isn’t always necessary. We’re willing to take a risk on someone if they have a decent work ethic.” 

As Allied invests in their own workers, they are also investing in the workers of the future, through a partnership with GST Michigan Works, Inc.

“We’re in the process of getting a Department of Labor internship program through Michigan Works,” Kramer says. “We’d be able to work with students in college, and if they were employed by Allied, a significant portion of their schooling would be paid funds that Michigan Works receives, and we’d get additional funds to train them further.”

Allied has had very little turnover in their workforce in large part because of the strong culture they foster – from a yearly Christmas party and quarterly barbecues put on by the workers, to their robust benefits such as medical insurance and 401K. The longer a worker stays with them, the better the benefits get with advancement, which is possible for those who go above and beyond in the organization.

Allied Industrial Group is a business willing to change with the times and embraces a challenge because they know their workers will rise to the occasion at every turn. If you have a strong work ethic, like to use your hands, and are willing to learn, Allied may be the place for you.