Maury County's diverse economy allows it to weather tough economic times, and many niche businesses have been growing and prospering. That's the case with two local manufacturers – WireMasters Inc. and Columbia Machine Works Inc. – that are turning out their products in steadily growing numbers.

WireMasters Inc., owned by David and Debra Hill, manufactures and ships precision-made, strong cable harnesses that go into the electronic controls on commercial airplanes, military planes and military weapons such as missiles, tanks and ships.

The company was founded and established in 1988 in Franklin, and David Hill went to work for WireMasters in 1991. After being with the company for 10 years, he purchased the company in 2001.

That same year, the company had 15 employees and annual sales of less than $1 million. Today, WireMasters has 93 employees and sales of $45 million to $50 million annually, and a yearly payroll of $10 million.

“I’m an aggressive businessman who hires hard-working, intelligent employees who enjoy the fact that many of our jobs involve contracts with the United States government,” Hill says. “I was born and raised in Maury County, so I hire mostly Maury County residents. We have a great workforce in place.”

When Hill purchased the company in 2001, he wanted to eventually move the entire operation from Williamson County to neighboring Maury County. That became a reality in 2007 when he relocated to the current site in northern Columbia.

“As for our products, we manufacture mill wire cable to military specifications, and our cables must meet cold and heat tolerances, plus hydraulic fluids must perform through any kinds of stresses,” Hill says. “We deal with global companies such as Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, but our cables also go into small private airplanes that fly out of Maury Regional Airport, and even hobby airplanes.”

Another Maury County business success story is Columbia Machine Works Inc., which rebuilds fuel tanks for U.S. barges in order to equip the tanks with double hulls. Those double hulls meet new federal requirements to help prevent oil spills.

John K. Langsdon started the company in 1927, and today Columbia Machine Works is owned and operated by brothers Jimmy and John K. Langsdon III.

“Our building has some of the largest machine tools found anywhere in Middle Tennessee, and we have two full-time mechanical engineers on staff to oversee all of our projects,” Jimmy Langsdon says. “Our company manufactures a lot of parts for the steel industry, with those parts ultimately going into barges, tug boats and tow boats.”

Langsdon says even in these difficult economic times, Columbia Machine Works has remained busy and is prospering.

“We have an excellent workforce of 68 employees, many of whom have been with the company for a good number of years,” he says. “This kind of business is always interesting, and we never know what challenge the next day will bring.”