CAROL SHETLER/The Luminary Jeff Patterson, Paul Kramer, Judy and Galen Houseknecht during a recent open house are marking a transfer of ownership with a new location for Houseknecht Machine & Tool Company.

HUGHESVILLE – After 25 years in the business they founded, Judy and Galen Houseknecht have sold Houseknecht Machine and Tool Company in Hughesville.

Now at retirement age, the couple has been considering selling for a couple of years. Whether to liquidate or sell as is, was the remaining question. Galen resisted liquidating saying, “We built the business with our blood, sweat and tears; I didn’t want to just sell out. We have a good customer base that depends on us.”

One day last fall Galen was at M & M sheet metal and steel fabricators in Williamsport to have work done and happened to ask an employee if he knew of anyone interested in buying a machine shop. “That afternoon we had a call from them and by the end of the year, transfer of ownership was completed,” Judy said. The agreement included keeping the company name and its employees.

Judy has retired and Galen will remain involved on a less active basis. “We found a good fit, a group of locals who will continue to serve our customers well,” Galen said.

Manager and President Paul Kramer of Pennsdale was proud to share that. “We weren’t out of business one minute during the transfer,” he said, referring to moving machines from the Hughesville location to a 13,000 square foot new building at 1054 Old Cement Road in Muncy. “We trucked some machines over, set them up and had them running while loading and bringing the others,” Kramer said.

CAROL SHETLER/The Luminary Paul Kramer (left), newly named President and Manager of Houseknecht Machine & Tool Company, shows clients examples of items the company manufactures during an open house held recently at its new location on Old Cement Road in Muncy.

In addition to Kramer, new owners include Williamsport residents Jeff Patterson, Rob Glosser and Frank Pellegrino. Kramer and Patterson will be at the new site while Glosser will remain at M & M.

As sister companies, M & M and Houseknecht Machine, Kramer said, “We’re service orientated. Now that we’ve combined, we’ll be more competitive and provide a quicker turn around. Clients come in saying ‘Nobody makes this part anymore.’ That makes our engineering department crucial.”

An open house to greet longtime and new customers and friends was hosted on Friday, May 15 at the new site. The former site now vacant in Hughesville, will be sold.