Associated Finishing was originally established as Associated Engineering in 1952 by Fred W. Cords.
Associated Engineering was focused on free-lance engineering and design work on a part-time basis.1952
William "Bill" Klammer Sr. and his wife, Irene purchased Associated Engineering
In 1965, William "Bill" Klammer Sr. and his wife, Irene purchased a very small Associated Engineering company.
It was located just two blocks away from our present day facility. Associated Engineering had just 3 employees.
Bill Klammer continued doing some design work, but began to branch into liquid spray painting as a way to maintain a more
consistent cash flow for his new company. AE began to grow steadily.1965
William "Chuck" Klammer
In 1976, Bill's health took a downward turn and he as a result, turned the company over to his eldest son,
William "Chuck" Klammer. Chuck decided to steer the direction of Associated Engineering to something he understood - painting.
Powder coating was just starting out in the 1970's. Chuck was interested in this technology and convinced his father to let him add a powder coating
line to the company's services. This gave AE an entirely new market to explore. It didn't take long and Associated Engineering was
long on work and short on capacity.1976
Expansions
Since 1980, we have expanded our facilities 4 different times to accommodate new equipment and expanding services.
Currently our building is 34,000 square feet under one roof.1980
Name Change
Associated Engineering became Associated Finishing, Inc. in May, 1998. This name change came because
it better reflected the type of work the company was developing.1988
New Ownership
Long-time employees Ted Schreyer and John Kapsner, purchased AFI in March of 2009.
Ted and John are equal shareholders in the business. Together, they have more than 60 years of experience with AFI!
Schreyer, AFI's President, joined AFI as a painter in 1978 when the company was applying liquid paint and experimenting with
a new phenomenon called "Powder Coat". Throughout high school and college, Ted worked with AFI and decided to stay with the
company after graduating in 1985. During the late 1980's, he covered various administrative roles with the company and eventually
took over all production responsibilities when John Kapsner was hired in 1988 to handle finances. Ted had remained V.P. of
Operations since that time.
Kapsner was actually AFI's banker during the 1980's. In 1988, he joined AFI's staff because he had a desire to eventually own
a business and AFI looked like a promising opportunity. He has run the office and administrative portion of the business as V.P.
of Administration since he was hired.
With Kapsner's financial background and Schreyer's finishing background, the two have a great understanding of the metal finishing business.
Read More2009
Second Facility
In November 2013, AFI opened the doors to a second facility in Mankato. This facility has a mono-rail conveyor
line that is equipped with a 6-stage washer. It was designed to have a longer cooling zone than our other
lines which makes it ideal for heavy parts.
2013
2017 Litchfield
AFI opened doors to our third facility in Litchfield, MN. This facility is designed to process large parts up to 40' including applying chemical pretreatments, blasting, liquid painting, and powder coating. It added an additional 27,000 square feet of production space to our facilities.
2017
2021 Ownership Transition
John Kapsner retires from AFI after 33 total years of service & 12 years of ownership. AFI employees - Jammey Harroun (Operations Manager), Ryan Kapsner (Finance Manager), Matt Miller (Sales & Marketing Manager), & Mick Rykhus (Facilities Manager) - buy out John's shares and become part of the ownership group. Ted Schreyer retains his shares in the company.
2021
2021 Associated Finishing Carolina
AFI opens its first facility outside the borders of Minnesota in Statesville, North Carolina. This facility is moved to a building that fit our needs better in Salisbury, NC in early 2022. AFIC offers powder coating, liquid coatings, blasting, chemical wash & pretreatment. AFIC specializes in liquid coatings on carbon fiber including base coats, buffing, & clear coating.
2021
2021 Extreme Powder Coating
AFI purchases Extreme Powder Coating out of Blooming Prairie, MN in October of 2021. Extreme Powder Coating was started by the late Greg Peterson in December of 2000 and focused on custom coatings for the racing industry. Since then, Extreme Powder Coating has become the premier name for custom coatings in southern Minnesota. The 15,000 sq ft facility is still located in Blooming Prairie and is equipped with 32' blasting and powder coating equipment.
2021