A New Source Of Business

"We went to management and said, 'We think we can reduce our costs by bringing in income and offsetting our costs,' " Sutherland recalls. What he had in mind was insourcing—taking in work from outside organizations and producing it in the in-plant.

"Our management was open to us trying it out," he says. That initial effort yielded $280,000 in additional income for the company. In 1998, he adds, insourcing brought in $600,000. And next year he hopes to net more than $1 million—money that will offset the expense of maintaining the in-plant and help keep it alive.