Caldwell Group settles in Beloit HQ, looks to grow

BELOIT — The Caldwell Group held its first training session this week in the former Regal-Beloit Corp. training center, the first of many as the newest company now based in Beloit settles in to its new corporate home.

When the Caldwell Group bought the former Regal-Beloit headquarters next to Beloit City Hall in October for $1.49 million, one of the big allures was having a space to train distributors and sales people on its vast array of “below-the-hook” lifting equipment, which includes things like lifting beams, forklift attachments and rigging equipment.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the company trained 12 workers from Houston- based CB&I, which designs and builds storage tanks and terminals, on how to properly use its equipment.

“This is why Beloit is such a great place because we can put (visiting professionals) up in hotels downtown. We can walk to restaurants,” said Lisa Sympson, Caldwell Group head of communications. “When they’re done, they can quickly get on (Interstate-90) and get to O’Hare (International Airport).”

The Caldwell Group was based in Rockford, Illinois with its administrative personnel spread out at two manufacturing locations and a distribution center. The company now has centralized those administrative positions in Beloit and has 35 people working in the Beloit center daily.

Doug Stitt, who joined the Caldwell Group in 2005 and bought the company in 2012, already was well aware of what downtown Beloit had to offer. Stitt is a 1985 South Beloit High School and 1989 Beloit College graduate. Many of his administrative staff, though, are unfamiliar with the area.

“We took them to Truk’t, Tilly’s Pizza, Zen (Sushi & Grill). We had cheese curds from Lucy’s (#7 Burger Bar),” Stitt said. “I grew up here. I’m familiar with all this, but it was a great experience kind of exposing people that didn’t know Beloit to Beloit.”

Stitt said the new administrative space should help them accelerate their growth, which already was on a good path. The company employed 156 when it bought the building. Today, it employs 179.

Caldwell makes and sells its equipment under two brand names — Caldwell and Renfro — and is the distributer of Germany-based RUD lifting points, which are specialized devices for attaching lifting equipment like chains and slings to loads. Stitt said the company so far hasn’t been affected by the global tariff wars that have hurt manufacturers reliant on imports from China, Mexico and Canada.

“Our Caldwell and Renfro products, 99% of its components are made in the U.S.,” Stitt said. “Our international sales are only 5% to 7% of our revenue so there hasn’t been a direct impact. RUD is based in Germany and that product has been hit by tariffs since it’s a steel component so there has been a decline there. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if we hit the 200 (employee) mark quickly going into next year.”

The former Regal-Beloit headquarters was built in 1990 at a cost of $2.4 million. In 2005, the company added a training center at a cost of $5 million. In 2021, Regal-Beloit merged with Rexnord Corp., becoming Regal Rexnord and in 2023 Regal Rexnord moved its corporate headquarters to Milwaukee.

The Caldwell Group right now is using the training center space built in 2005 and hopes to grow to the point where it would occupy the entire building. For now, the plan remains to lease out the east side space closer to state street.

“We’ve really been focused in getting everyone settled in and working on how best to use this building,” Stitt said. “We’re getting to the point where we’re going to start working on the east-side space and try and bring other businesses in.”