WALKER, Mich. (WZZM) - Tool and die companies have been hit especially hard in the last several years, but Focus Mold and Machining has a new focus that's helping them survive the economy.
The small business is retooling itself in an unlikely industry: bird feeders.
David Dault has been in the tool and die trade for 25 years. But he says the last three years have been a challenge ever since JCI, his biggest customer shut down the division he supplied.
"There went my work and I was heavily dependent on JCI and the work that they gave us," said Dault.
Luckily Dault's passion isn't cars. "Birding is my love. I love to feed the birds and watch the birds," said Dault.
Dault and his team used his automotive mold software to engineer high-end humming bird feeders. Dault plans to market the feeders to a growing industry of "birding."
"I said I have all the equipment I have all the knowledge."
Dault has already sold several feeders to local shops and is marketing the idea online at
www.LoveMyBirds.com. He hopes to make them in the shop, full time, taking a lesson from his love of nature: only those who adapt can survive.
