Integrity Fab & Machine Inc. took the initiative to expand its capabilities in order to better serve its current customers and to acquire new ones. To accomplish this, the company needed a machine tool capable of handling Kirk Smith and Rollie Koutz, co-owners of Integrity Fab & Machine Inc. who, with the help of Greater Gratiot Development, Inc. (GGDI), Isabella Bank and the Small Business Administration, through the efforts of the Michigan Certified Development Corporation (MCDC) recently moved into an new 17,000 square foot facility in the Breckenridge Technology Park. The move into the new facility is the culmination of a dream that turned into reality for the two lifelong Gratiot County residents.The SBA 504 loan program was an essential element of the business expansion. The loan program enabled Integrity Fab & Machine Inc. to secure local funding through Isabella Bank.
Smith and Koutz met in the 1980’s while working together at Danly Die Set in Ithaca, Michigan. Smith, an Alma College Graduate began his career at Danly in an entry level customer service position, while Koutz, with training in automotive technology, began as a general factory employee. Both soon began to work their way up through the management ranks. After a hard day on the job, they would often end the night discussing the dream of together owning a fabricating or machine shop.
The dream turned into a goal and then into reality in 2007 when a Detroit area fabricating company was liquidating an entire shop filled with equipment. With the help of Tim Miller at Isabella Bank, that equipment and several new CNC machines were purchased. Integrity Fab & Machine Inc. initially located in a vacant warehouse in Clare Michigan.
