MOUNT VERNON – The future of a 40-year Knox County company is unclear following the purchase of its property late last month.
Potemkin Industries, located at 8043 Columbus Rd. in Mount Vernon, sold its property to “GP Acquisition Sub Inc.” on March 20 for $980,000, according to the Knox County auditor’s website.
It’s unclear whether just the property, or the property and the company, were sold.
The auditor’s office only tracks property sales. The Ohio Secretary of State’s office, which registers business entities, does not track company ownership changes.
Potemkin Industries declined to comment on the details of the sale.
“Potemkin Industries is a privately held company. We are not in a position to reveal information regarding the sale at this point in time,” Debbie Hamilton, the company’s vice president of operations, said in an email.
The buyer, GP Acquisition Sub Inc., registered to do business in Ohio on Feb. 11, according to records from the Secretary of State’s office. The corporation’s listed address is 15 Smith Rd. in Midland, Texas, which is an office park. It is represented by Steven C. Lindgren, who appears to serve as legal counsel for Warren Equipment Company – also based in Midland, Texas.
Warren Equipment Company is a construction equipment retailer serving a variety of industries, including oil and gas, power generation, construction and agriculture. It employs over a thousand people and delivers “world-class products and services to people around the globe,” according to its website.
Representatives from Warren Equipment Company could not be reached for comment for this story.
Potemkin Industries began in Mount Vernon in 1980. It is an aftermarket compressor and engine parts manufacturing company, serving the natural gas industry. According to its website, the company supplies new, used and reconditioned engines, compressors and other major components to the following product lines:
- Worthington
- Ajax
- Superior Engines & Compressors
- Dresser Rand
- Cooper
- Gardner Denver
- Joy
- Waukesha
- Caterpillar
- Ariel
- Gemini
It’s unclear how many people Potemkin Industries employs. The light manufacturing facility sits on a 3.3-acre property just south of Mount Vernon, in Liberty Township. When the Area Development Foundation compiled a list of Knox County’s top 25 employers (by size) in 2017, Potemkin Industries did not make the cut. The county’s 25th-largest employer at the time was Ver-Mac Industries, with 55 employees.
Potemkin Industries is headquartered in Mount Vernon, but also appears to have offices in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The status of those locations is currently unclear as well.
According to Dun & Bradstreet, a company that provides commercial data and business insights, Potemkin Industries employs 30 people across all of its locations. The company reportedly generates $4.82 million annually in sales.
Hamilton did not respond to questions about why Potemkin Industries sold the property, or what it means for the company moving forward. The company’s president, Horst Krajenski, was also unavailable for comment.
Area Development Foundation President Jeff Gottke, who regularly corresponds with local manufacturers and works to grow Knox County’s economy, was not privy to the details of the sale as of press time.
Potemkin Industries was founded in 1980 by James P. Buchwald, according to documents filed with the Secretary of State’s office. Buchwald also founded Ariel Corporation in 1966. Ariel Corporation has become the world’s largest manufacturer of separable reciprocating gas compressors and employs 1,500 people.
