New Faces Leading NESCO Parent Company

The Metal Ware Corp., parent company of NESCO, American Harvest and now Chard, has been acquired by Rick Carey, president, and Ross Niemi, executive vice president/COO.

Carey and Niemi take over this 96-year-old family company in Two Rivers, Wis., during a time of tremendous change in the housewares industry. Privately owned companies like Metal Ware represent a dwindling minority of companies in the industry, but Niemi and Carey said they believe this unique characteristic will set them apart from the rest of the competition.

“As a privately owned company, our ability to identify consumer trends, develop long-term strategic goals and streamline decision-making will provide us with a competitive advantage over large public companies. At Metal Ware, we can quickly adjust and make changes to meet our customer and retailers’ needs,” stated Niemi.

Previously, Carey and Niemi led Chard International, a company focused on outdoor cooking, housewares and private label product development. Carey and Niemi are excited to take over following in Wes Drumm’s footsteps. Drumm will still be instrumental with the company as co-owner and chairman of the board, adding to his 70 years of experience with Metal Ware.  

“For me, the most exciting part of this new opportunity is to manufacture many of our goods right here in the USA,” said Carey. Metal Ware has a long history of deep drawing metal and plastic goods. Metal Wares’ main manufacturing facility is over 165,000 square feet and holds a state-of-the-art injection mold facility and a deep draw facility with roots reaching back all the way to the 1920s. Niemi and Carey have plans to expand the manufacturing to accommodate Chard’s existing product line, which include rotationally molded premium coolers. 

Niemi and Carey have a long history together. Both attended Marquette University in Milwaukee and lived on the same dormitory floor their sophomore year. A shared interest in outdoor activities such as skiing, hunting and boating solidified a lifelong friendship. 

After college Niemi pursued a career in the corporate world accepting a position with Motorola.  He spent the next 14 years working with wireless operators throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas including an expatriate assignment throughout Europe. Upon returning to Chicago, Niemi obtained an MBA from Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern. Niemi then joined Dell managing national retailer accounts in North America. 

Carey obtained a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He hung out his own shingle and started a law practice that focused on corporate law and litigation. In 2004, he was hired as outside counsel for Metal Ware and become in-house general counsel the following year. For the next five years, Carey took on many additional responsibilities such as acting CFO, overseas sourcing, national account management and new product development. Carey left the company in 2010 to found Chard International. 

As Metal Ware approaches its 100-year anniversary in 2020, Carey and Niemi said they see themselves as the current stewards of an evergreen company. Their background of creating a company from the ground up, coupled with their new duties of shepherding Metal Ware, provides them with a unique opportunity to define the vision that carries the company into the next century.