It Has Been an Honor

Yesterday, I had the privilege of announcing that Continental has acquired WCCO Belting and CSI Calendering, our sister-company in Texas. With over six decades as a private, family-owned business, our companies have grown so much, and this is the next step in furthering that growth and commitment to our customers. As many of you know, WCCO Belting was founded by my father, an immigrant who poured all of himself into starting and growing many business ventures. I have tried every day to follow in his footsteps, leading our beloved companies with all my heart since becoming CEO/President in 2001.

Although the Shorma family has grown several successful businesses over the past six decades, WCCO Belting and CSI Calendering are now the largest where we still retain full ownership. After much deliberation, we felt it was time to take the next step to sustain the legacy that our father started 68 years ago. The shareholders, my sisters and brothers, did not come to this decision lightly. We have gone to great measures to find an acquirer that is both committed to furthering our work in agriculture harvesting and industrial conveying, and that is aligned with the personal values we hold so dearly. We have found this in Continental – a business that is fiercely passionate about its people, its products, and its commitment to innovating to meet the needs of its customers into the future. We are excited for WCCO’s and CSI’s opportunity to join a large, multinational organization with the resources needed to help propel their products, customers, partners and teams into the future.??

We believe firmly that this acquisition provides a combined WCCO, CSI and Conti that will accelerate our capabilities well beyond anything we could have achieved on our own. As a part of Conti, the WCCO and CSI teams will now have access to global resources to serve new markets and new customers. Not only that, but the career opportunities for those that have dedicated their careers to WCCO and CSI just got a lot broader, with additional career and income growth opportunity for our valuable and talented team.

Our current leadership team is globally experienced, with several previously working through changes in leadership or ownership. I have all the faith in their ability to work closely with the new Conti team to build upon our past successes and propel the business forward. For myself, beginning in July, I’m supporting the integration process as an independent consultant. WCCO has been my passion for so many years, it’s hard to think of it not being some part of my life still. Even after retiring, my dad still regularly walks the halls, so I’ll happily advise as much as needed to ensure our businesses and people are set up for continued success.

The Wahpeton/Breckenridge community will always be home for the Shorma family and the many businesses that we created here. I expect that the new ownership will quickly learn why we feel so fortunate to have grown up and spent our careers in this community. And we’ve seen that Conti is a business that demonstrates strong support for the communities where they operate, so I’m excited to see how they continue to aid in the development in our corner of the state.?

Although it will no longer be the Shorma family leading WCCO, Conti’s leaders are known to be fiercely passionate about their people. In fact, Continental was recently named to Forbes Americas Best Large Employers list. This was one of the many reasons we chose Conti. We wanted assurance that the teamwork culture we’ve built at both WCCO and CSI will be retained.

Though this isn’t the first Shorma family business that has been sold, WCCO and CSI have certainly been a major part of my life. Over the past 21 years, I have spent as much time with the team here as I have with my own family. I have traveled with the world with many of them. I have laughed, cried, stressed and celebrated with them. Working with and getting to know each of our team members and their families – attending graduations, seeing them tie the knot at weddings and watching them develop their careers – has been one of the great pleasures of my life. I will never forget their dedication to our vision of becoming a world-class family business.?

I will also certainly miss working with and visiting those in our global network of equipment manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, partners and agriculture producers. That said, though we anticipate many long-term benefits of this acquisition, customers and vendors shouldn’t notice a thing – except they’ll be seeing less of me!

I’m looking forward to spending more time with my wife, children and, most recently, new grandchild. I’m excited to live a more "normal” life with much less driving, flying and time away from them. Though I’ve loved what I’ve done all these years, they have made many sacrifices on my behalf so I could focus on helping to build WCCO and CSI into what they are today. Now, it’s my time to give back to them. That said, I have never had a problem staying busy with outside interests either. I will continue to be active in promoting global trade opportunities for North Dakota companies, leading workforce recruitment efforts for our state, advocating for our growing immigrant population and serving on a few business and philanthropic boards.?

Though it’s bittersweet, I’m excited to see what the next 60+ years has in store for WCCO, CSI and Conti together as one!