Franklin Electric (NASDAQ:FELE) is a manufacturer and distributor of products and systems focused on the movement and management of water and fuel. The company offers pumps, motors, drives, and controls for use in a variety of residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and municipal applications. Headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the company also operates manufacturing facilities in the

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, Brazil,

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, and

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. As of 2020, the company employed 5,400 individuals worldwide.

History

Franklin Electric was founded in 1944 in

Bluffton, Indiana Bluffton is a city in Harrison and Lancaster townships, Wells County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 10,308 at the 2020 census and the estimated population is 10,390. The city is the county seat of Wells County. History Blufft ...

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by E.J. (Ed) Schaefer and T.W. (Wayne) Kehoe. They named the company Franklin Electric in honor of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...

, whom they considered the country's first electrical engineer. The company's first product was a backpack generator to power the radio equipment paratroopers and other assault troops used during WWII. When WWII concluded, Franklin experienced a reduction in orders. Schaefer and Kehoe began designing and manufacturing fractional horsepower motors to pump water into homes or out of flooded basements to adjust to the peacetime economy. This new product hit the market coinciding with the home building boom that occurred as G.I.s returned from war. The motors performed well and led to nearly $1.7 million in sales in 1947. In 1950, Franklin introduced the first electric motor that was fully submersible. The new pump motors were quiet, resistant to freezing, smaller, easy to install, and had a high pumping capacity. The new motors could recover water from much deeper in the earth, making it possible for the first time to develop areas with low water tables. The motors also proved extremely versatile. Eventually, they would be used for gasoline pumps, commercial air conditioning units, crude oil recovery, and deep-sea use. Another early Franklin success was the Submatic sump pump. The Submatic was sealed in a unique stainless-steel casing designed to automatically sense when water was rising and turn on the motor. With the Submatic, an external float switch was no longer needed, and the motor could be mounted out of sight beneath the floor level. By the mid-60s, it was clear that Franklin motors could pump more than just water. The company began designing and producing motors to pump oil, as well as motors for undersea use. Eventually, Franklin developed a motor to move gasoline and founded FE Petro in 1988 (which would later be called Franklin Fueling Systems). Franklin would continue to expand its fueling and water businesses through acquisitions and organic growth throughout the years. In 2017, Franklin announced the acquisition of three distributors and formed Headwater Companies, LLC. Headwater has also continued to grow through acquisitions.

Primary Businesses

Global Water Systems

Franklin offers pumps, motors, drives, and controls for use in a variety of residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, and municipal installations, for both clean and grey water applications.

Acquisitions

* JBD (Former pump line of Jacuzzi) – 2004 * Pioneer Pump – 2005 * Little Giant – 2006 * Denorco – 2007 * Monarch – 2007 * Schneider Motobombas – 2008 * Western Pumps – 2008 * Vertical – 2009 * Impo – 2011 * Cerus – 2012 * Bombas Leão – 2014 * Pluga – 2014 * RotorPump – 2018 * Sterling / Avid – 2019 * CPS Pumps – 2020

Global Fueling Systems

FE Petro introduced devices such as variable length pumps and the Mag Shell pump. Through acquisitions, Franklin Fueling Systems offers complete fueling systems.

Acquisitions

* EBW, Inc – 2000 * APT, Inc – 2000 * INCON – 2002 * Phil-Tite Industries – 2005 * Healy – 2006 * PetroTechnik – 2010 * Flex-ing – 2012 * Wadcorpp – 2014 * Midtronics (Stationary Power Division) – 2018

Distribution

Headwater Companies, LLC is a collection of groundwater distributors. They provide various products and brands to contractors within the

Acquisitions

* 2M Company – 2017 * Western Hydro – 2017 * DSI – 2017 * 2MDSI – 2017 * Valley Farm Supply – 2018 * Milan Supply Company – 2019 * Kokomo Pump Supply – 2019

References

{{Authority control Pump manufacturers Manufacturing companies based in Indiana Companies based in Fort Wayne, Indiana 1944 establishments in Indiana Manufacturing companies established in 1944 Companies listed on the Nasdaq