Company Names Don Bartlett to New Position
CHARLOTTE, NC – June 14, 2021 – Compass Precision has made another promotion from within at one of its five operating companies.
Quality Products & Machine, LLC, a leading manufacturer of precision metal components and fabricated assemblies, officially announced Monday that it has promoted Don Bartlett to Fabrication Manager.
“Don had made many contributions in his four years working with us,” explained Kevin Farmer, President of Quality Products. “I am really happy that we have the opportunity to promote him!”
Beginning his career as a welder and fabricator in the mid-1980s, Don received his background in fabrication at Central Piedmont Community College. In addition to MIG and TIG courses, he enrolled in all kinds of shop classes at the college.
Don began working at Quality Products as a fabricator on the press brakes in 2017. He also did MIG welding. After two years, he became the Working Crew Lead, where he became responsible for organizing the flow of production in the shop.
”We love promoting from within.” said Gary Holcomb, CEO of Quality’s parent Compass Precision. “We have lots of opportunities for people like Don who work hard and are smart.”
Prior to working at the Compass operating company, Don spent nine years at Jacobsen as a Class 6 production welder. He also served as an assistant crew lead at Jacobsen.
Don had a bit of an unusual transition to Compass Precision. He met Greg Donaldson, who was recently promoted to Operations Manager at Quality Products, through mutual Facebook contacts. After meeting Greg, Don landed an interview.
“Sometimes you meet good people in unusual ways,” exclaimed Greg, to whom Don reports. “I am really happy that we got connected through social media.”
The career move to Quality Products couldn’t have worked out any better.
”Quality Products is a great place for me to be right now, ” stated Don. “We are growing and investing for the future. I want to be a part of that.”
Quality Products operates from a 47,000-square-foot facility in Charlotte, NC at 4600 Westinghouse Boulevard. The company has both machining and fabrication capabilities, all under one roof. It manufactures complex prototype and low-to-mid volume metal parts, with a focus on defense and power generation markets.
The Compass operating company was founded in 1962. ZP Enterprises, LLC, an Atlanta-based firm, acquired majority interest in the company in 2010, then purchased the remaining ownership in 2018.
During 2019, ZP Enterprises decided to seek new ownership for three of its portfolio companies, including Advanced Machining & Tooling, LLC of Salisbury, NC and Tri-Tec Industries, LLC of Charlotte, NC as well as Quality Products. It quickly reached an agreement with Main Street Capital Holdings, a Pittsburgh-based private equity firm. Main Street acquired Quality Products, along with its two sister firms, and placed them under a new umbrella company, Compass Precision, LLC.
In August 2020, Compass Precision added Gray Manufacturing Technologies, LLC of Denver, NC as its fourth operating company. Then in March, Compass expanded outside North Carolina by acquiring Douglas Machining Services, LLC in Winona, MN.