Caldwell Group owner didn't need to be sold on Beloit

BELOIT — South Beloit native Doug Stitt had been looking for an administrative home for his company, the Caldwell Group, for a couple of years.

The company, which makes “off-the-hook” lifting equipment has two manufacturing and distribution centers on the south side of Rockford and the administrative functions were spread out over two buildings.

So when the “For Sale” sign went up in front of the former Regal Beloit headquarters next to Beloit City Hall at 200 State St. in April, he was intrigued.

“I took a look at it in June, but I wasn’t sure with the distance (from Rockford) if it’d be a good fit,” said Stitt, who graduated from South Beloit High School in 1985 and Beloit College in 1989. “Once we saw the space, the condition the building was in, the opportunities it afforded us, we decided this is what we wanted to do.”

On Thursday, the company announced that it was in the final stages of purchasing the property. Since the deal is not final, Stitt wouldn’t disclose a purchase price. The Caldwell Group, which employs 156 overall, does hope to begin working out of the Beloit building by Oct. 1. Initially, about 30 company executives and administrators will be working in Beloit.

The Caldwell Group at first will occupy the western wing of the building.

“Regal (Beloit) has a big training center in that half,” Stitt said. “We have a similar opportunity here to bring in users, distributors, sales people from all over the country here.”

The goal is to grow into the rest.

“We may look at finding a tenant for the eastern part of the building,” Stitt said. “Right now, we just want to focus on moving in and spreading out.”

Stitt said the deal has taken about three months so far. The city of Beloit helped iron out zoning and there’s still an easement issue that needs to be resolved. In the Stateline Area, it isn’t unusual for Illinois and Wisconsin to compete over businesses with incentives.

“We didn’t ask for any so (Wisconsin) didn’t have to offer,” said Stitt, who joined the Caldwell Group in 2005 as company president and added the title of CEO several years later when his family purchased the company along with another investor.

In Thursday’s news release, Stitt noted that it feels like a return home. Stitt’s grandfather worked for Regal Beloit Corp., which was launched in Beloit in 1955 as Beloit Tool. In 1969, the company changed its name to Regal Beloit. In 1990, the company built the 200 State St. headquarters for $2.4 million.

The name on the building changed to Regal Rexnord after a merger in 2021. In truth, the building has largely been empty since March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic gripped the country. In 2023, Regal Rexnord officially moved its corporate headquarters to Milwaukee.

Stitt said he hopes the move is the beginning of a run in Beloit as fruitful as Regal Beloit. The company makes things that helps companies move things from point A to point B and its growth is coming from all over.

“Caldwell sells to all industries — construction, industrial, steel, automotive, military,” he said. “Anyone who has to lift and move something, we have an application for that.”

When asked if that means more jobs will come to Beloit if the company has to expand its manufacturing and distribution operations, he was non-commital.

“Not something we’d rule out, but at this point we have two facilities operating well,” he said. “We’re just worried about getting into this building. We’ll worry future growth in the future.”