Company Hires Donnie Rowe
CHARLOTTE, NC – March 17, 2021 – Quality Products & Machine, LLC, hasn’t built its strong working culture by accident, as the Compass Precision operating company places a major emphasis on character during the application process. The strategy has benefitted Quality Products tremendously over the years.
This month, Quality Products, a leading manufacturer of precision metal components and fabricated assemblies for blue chip customers, added to its stellar staff by hiring Donnie Rowe as plant controller.
“I’m excited about the future and what it holds with the company,” said Donnie. “I look forward to a long-lasting partnership, commardiere with the company and look forward to the possibilities to come.”
Donnie previously worked as a plant accountant at Thompson-Arthur Paving and Construction, where he managed inventory of nine plants, including eight asphalt plants. His role also included processing invoices, submitting General Ledger journal entries and preparing tax returns.
But after holding the role for almost four years, Donnie “wanted a new challenge.” He was also hopeful to get out of the house. Due to COVID-19, Thompson-Arthur employees began working from home at the end of March 2020, and although Donnie liked that change at first, he began to grow bored working on the couch.
“I wanted to continue to sharpen my skills as an accountant and continue to further my experience,” said Donnie. “I would have just been doing the same thing for many years to come (at Thompson-Arthur) whereas with this position with Quality Products as a plant controller, it gives me the opportunity to grow into a role and take on new responsibilities.”
Donnie has never officially worked in CNC machining, but his new position overlaps with his old one. He liked working as part of a close, small-knit team at Thompson-Arthur and is excited about the working environment he’s joining at Quality.
He is also interested in learning more about Quality’s business model — both how it comes together financially and the art form of machining and fabrication processes, particularly laser cutting and welding.
A Goldsboro native, Donnie graduated from East Carolina University in Dec. 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. He also earned a masters in accountancy from Gardner-Webb University a little more than a year ago. Donnie has lived in several different places, but North Carolina has always been his home.
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.
In 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.