Expanded Solutions

Made in Oklahoma:  Expanded Solutions

•Address: 5000 NW 5 St., with a second plant location in Wewoka.
•Web site: www.expandedsolutions.com.
•Employees: 62 companywide.
•Key personnel: Owners and managing members Rick and Carol Bahner.
•Services: The company produces expanded metals, security mesh, mini-mesh and expanded grating.
•Background: Oklahoma natives Rick and Carol Bahner started Expanded Solutions in 2002 after purchasing the assets of Acker Industries, founded by Eric Acker in 1956.

The couple graduated from the University of Oklahoma, but "left for jobs elsewhere,” Rick Bahner said. He spent years working for aluminum companies, while Carol Bahner worked as a certified public accountant. But after 32 years crisscrossing the country on the corporate level, they wanted the chance to return to Oklahoma and run their own company.
When the Bahners bought Acker Industries, "we were able to save 28 jobs,” Bahner said. "We're very pleased about that.”
The Oklahoma City facility's 27,000-square-foot production area makes small mesh, and a 75,000-square-foot plant in Wewoka produces large mesh, he said.
Expanded Solutions makes mesh so small only a needle can penetrate to mesh "large enough to stick your fist through,” he said.
The Bahners also formed their own trucking company to help contain costs and handle the steel shipments coming into the two plants and shipments of finished mesh to clients nationwide. Bahner said 95 percent of his company's products are shipped out of state.
Bahner heads the company's sales and operations divisions, while Carol Bahner manages the financial portion of the business. Two sons also now have joined the company — one as its human resources manager and the other manages the Oklahoma City plant.

Business Writer Debbie Blossom