Angie Holt

President at Rathburn Precision Machining

After six years in a leadership position at Rathburn Tool & Manufacturing (and 40+ years of it being integral to my family’s way of life), I’ve always taken pride in the fact that the family business is synonymous with the Rathburn family itself, including the name, values, work ethic, and reputation.

We all know that industries and companies change over time, and what worked in one generation may not work as well in another. Our industry has seen an incredible evolution and adoption of technology since the 1980s, when Rathburn was founded. And while Rathburn has grown and matured over time, the company name has remained steadfast.

It was our Engineering Manager, Brian Cole, who brought to my attention the fact that, over the last several years, our name may have been causing confusion to some prospective customers. Some were disappointed to discover that Rathburn Tool & Manufacturing no longer manufactured tooling. Others excluded Rathburn from their shortlist because they didn’t believe we had the capabilities they needed in precision machining.

Brian was right. I realized that, although the Rathburn name still has the same values as it always has, the “Tool & Manufacturing” descriptor no longer reflected how we’ve advanced over the years from a job shop to what we’ve become.

Soon, the Rathburn family board of directors agreed that change was needed. This was no simple decision. It took no fewer than three dedicated board meetings to sort through options and get to the final solution. We all agreed that the Rathburn anchor would remain. What could be changed was the descriptor. After reviewing options from mild to wild, funny to dry, boring to high-tech, we landed on an option that matched the brand personality, reflected who we are as a company, and set us up for the future. Moving forward, Rathburn Tool & Manufacturing will be known as Rathburn Precision Machining.

I am excited about where Rathburn Precision Machining is today as a company, and what the future holds for us. I invite you to find out more about how we continue to evolve to be the agile partner our customers want and need.