You're All Hired

Although Maytag closed down in October, 2007, its new corporate parent, Whirlpool, still needed industrial engineers. That’s where Jordan Bruntz, former head of research and development at Maytag, saw his opening. He founded Springboard Engineering after he got laid off and brought in all 65 members of Maytag’s former R&D team. Springboard’s first contract was a lucrative design project for Whirlpool. Since then, the share of the business devoted to Whirlpool has dropped to about 70% as new customers, such as an industrial cleaning equipment firm and a local mattress manufacturer, have come on board. Bruntz expects revenues to hit $5 million this year.

Photographs by Thomas Strand

Source: Business Week