By Sheridan Garman
One of the most interesting things about being an economic developer is getting to meet business owners and talking to them about their plans, goals and aspirations. Last week I met with Daylen Noble of Noble Machine and Manufacturing. Daylen’s shop is located in Appleton City, off of Hickory. The shop is a full service manual and CNC machine and fabrication shop. Recently, he also began offering powder coating as well.
He showed me what a blueprint from a client looks like. (Sort of like a picture with some numbers, measurements and Greek on it) From those plans he makes the specified part or parts that the client ordered. Often though, he doesn’t have a plan to work off of, just a part that someone brought in. This is a valuable service for our local farmers and anyone else that is in need of hard to find specialty parts.
On the powder coating side, Daylen has worked on a variety of projects including a kerosene heater and some grain bin blowers. As of now, he can powder coat any part under 20 feet long. In the future, he would like to expand his capabilities to do both more powder coating projects and manufacturing of parts.
When asked why he likes doing business in Appleton City, Daylen responded “I believe that if I expect people to do business with me, I should be doing business with them. Small communities and rural areas depend on people spending their money within their own community. As a resident and a business owner I try to buy most everything I can from local businesses.” Daylen also said “Some may argue that the rural location hurts this kind of business. I don't believe that to be true. In this rural area, local people basically had the choice to go to Kansas City or Springfield to get the services that Noble Machine & Mfg now offers. Cost also factors into being in a rural area. We can offer the same services that big city shops offer at a fraction of the price because of the lower overhead that can go along with operating in a rural area.”
Having a shop with these capabilities is a huge boon to our area. If you need a part or powder coating done, please consider supporting this young St.Clair county business. Its businesses with down to earth folks like these that make our county a great place to live and work!