Life Line purchases former Rockwell building

Driving west out of town, there’s a lot of rubbernecking going on as drivers glance to the left and back again. The overly large Binswager ‘for sale or lease’ sign is gone and – perhaps the biggest change – is a white and blue sign over the original Rockwell placard that reads “The Future Home of Life Line Emergency Vehicles.”

The move is a “rebirth” for the company, according to CEO Connie Leicher. After tough economic times, which included a few layoffs, the future of Life Line looks well, especially with a July boost in sales for 29 new custom-built ambulances.

Tuesday, Sept. 6, the manufacturer embarked on a new chapter, closing on the sale for $2.5 million on the former Rockwell building, which is located adjacent to the current Life Line property.

Beginning in March, Leicher set the wheels in motion for one of Sumner’s best-kept secrets.

Leicher was headed to Florida on business. She always flies Allegiant and never reserves a seat. A man sat down beside her. Like Leicher, he too, took whatever seat was available.

The pair got to talking, and he noticed Leicher’s Life Line coat and asked her about the company. They talked at lengths during the flight. His name was Gary Werle, and he was the owner of Werle Construction, Coralville.

At the end of the flight, Leicher handed him her business card and told him to call her. “I told him we’d been working on a small expansion,” she said. “I called it ‘Band-Aids.’ We had (stopped working) with a company that was designing the addition. They had just become too expensive for us.”

In 2005, Life Line moved into its current location, under the direction of then CEO Terry Leicher. The company was, however, still on both ends of Sumner and by 2010 it had outgrown its main facility.

Leicher said she felt that Werle was the missing piece to the puzzle that would solve Life Line’s growing pains issue.

Keeping you posted on our construction progress.... (updated February 2nd)

Not long after, Werle and Septagon’s Larry Hart made a trip to Sumner to look at the current facilities.

After looking around, the trio met in Leicher’s office and they asked her, “Why aren’t you looking at the building next door?”

Leicher replied that it was big and the taxes were high, plus Terry had given his wife the impression that he did not like the Rockwell building.

Werle and Hart told her they wanted to look at it.

Thus, the “Liar’s Club” was formed. In order to be in this club, Leicher made the few key players swear their secrecy that they would not tell anyone of Life Line’s newest endeavor.

Leicher contacted realtor Connie Rochford to have her get a hold of a key to look at the building. She told Rochford and eventually Steve Rogers, former Rockwell manager, that she had a couple of family members (Werle and Hart) who were looking to purchase a building.

Leicher said that secrecy was of the utmost importance, as she did not want to get the town’s and Life Line employees’ hopes up in the event that they could not move forward with their plans.

During the tour, Werle and Hart played along, remarking that they could easily work in the building with their 50 employees.

That rumor stuck around the town for a while with murmurings of, “I heard there’s a business looking at the Rockwell building. They’re going to employ 50 people.”

After the tour, Leicher, Werle and Hart met in Leicher’s office. The men said the building was “awesome” and encouraged Leicher to look into it fully.

The building, with its 155,000 square feet, would help Life Line get to its goal of implementing ‘lean manufacturing’ and cut hours off of each ambulance. “Even though we’re a state-of-the-art manufacturer and build the Cadillac of ambulances, we need to get into lean manufacturing,” said Leicher. “It will help in production flow. The tools and parts will be where they’re needed and it’ll speed up production.”

In April, serious talking about the purchase of the building began. During their research, Leicher and the “Liar’s Club,” which had grown to include a few more people, found that the company which had purchased the building from Rockwell had deemed the facility “unmarketable” due to its location in a small town that was not located along a major highway.

The new facility will lend itself to expansion, if the market allows. Leicher said she would like to see the manufacturer turn out 40-45 ambulances per month, which is “big in the ambulance market.”

The plan is to move production, including metals and paint to the new Life Line building. The current building will house the main offices, as well as finish and delivery and quality assurance. In the back, the chassis will be stored.

Leicher said that eventually Life Line will sell the property located at the east end of Sumner where paint and remount are currently located.

Wednesday, Sept. 7, Leicher called a company-wide meeting and took all employees next door.

She said to them, “This is a very special day in Life Line history and for the future of this company. This building is going to be the new home of Life Line. All of production will now be under one roof.

“This is an opportunity of a life time,” continued Leicher. “It will end all the Band-Aids that we have experienced since the beginning on Railroad (Street), having production on both ends of town and outgrowing the current building.

“The Rockwell building will have room for all of production with room to spare. We have battled for this since March and finalized the purchase of this building for $2.5 million.

- Article by Sumner Gazette

“Welcome to your new home!”