Growing Warren County business has Dayton family ties going back 100 years

Company President Chris Walther, a third-generation auto parts manufacturer, co-founded the business off Ohio 123 near I-75 more than 30 years ago with two employees.

The business makes calipers for UPS and the hubs and the rotors for its step vans, he said.

“We’ve designed and developed that product specifically for them,” Walther added.

Walther EMC supplies calipers to Daimler Truck, which sells the chassis to UPS and FedEx, Walther said.

It has grown to about 70 employees and is on the verge of adding 10 to 20 jobs with its second expansion in the Franklin Business Park, he said.

The expansion is the result of “more business from existing clients and further market penetration,” said the 71-year-old Walther, whose grandfather George Walther, Sr., started the Dayton Steel Foundry more than 100 years ago.

Walther, Sr. was a German immigrant who borrowed money to build a steel foundry, where the first automobile starter case was built for Charles Kettering, his grandson said.

The foundry’s “big break” was landing a federal government contract to make steel spoke wheels for the Liberty Truck, a heavy-duty vehicle used by the U.S. Army in World War I, Chris Walther said.

“They continued in the heavy truck area with the spoke wheel and George made improvements on it,” he added, noting the foundry’s expansion.

Through the years, contracts with Mack Truck, International Harvester, Ford, General Motors and others followed, as did the family’s participation in the business, which was later renamed Dayton Steel, Walther said.

He’s quick to point to a black and white photo taken in the 1950s of foundry workers and family members, including himself as a young boy.

Walther said he and a cousin, Phil Fensel, started the Franklin business and were “50/50 partners” until Fensel’s death last year.

Walther EMC’s growth includes adding 36,000 square feet to its 62,800 square foot facility at 3501 Shotwell Drive. The expansion will also add loading docks and parking at the nine-acre site.

“The market always changes,” Walther said. “But more recently, companies are seeking components that are pre-assembled.”

To be competitive, he said, “you need to automate. And there’s a couple reasons to automate. You automate, not necessarily to reduce your head count, but to make for a better job.

“Because having a good job obviously makes it easier to recruit and retain people,” Walther added, “And we’re investing in automating certain processes primarily because it’s a better job.”