History
Control Products, Inc. was founded in 1985 by Chris Berghoff, the current CEO of the company. Chris worked for General Electric and was recruited by Honeywell, where he was employed for 10 years in sales, sales management, and marketing. One of Chris' assignments at Honeywell was to assist in the start up of a technology venture called Communication Components and Systems (CCS). It is here Chris had his first experience in business start-up. As part of a venture team, CCS management established an international organization marketing powerline carrier devices to energy management system manufacturers. The venture was eventually folded into Honeywell's Controls Division where Chris became a senior marketing manager.
In 1985 Chris became intrigued by the evolution of the microprocessor in other industries, and felt this technology would eventually be cost effective for use in designing low cost environmental controls. He left Honeywell in 1985 to start Control Products with the vision to specialize in microprocessor based controls. During the first year, Chris wrote a business plan, developed several product concepts and began assembling a start up team. To pay the bills, Chris was employed by the University of Minnesota and University of St. Thomas as an Adjunct Professor in the graduate schools of business, where he taught several MBA classes. He later was involved in several university executive development programs.
Boyd Palsgrove, a close friend and Honeywell associate, joined Chris in year two to manage the operations. Together they developed product, established distribution and grew the company to become a leader in electronic control design and manufacturing. Today Control Products is the leader in providing electronic controls to the Food Service Equipment market. It also services several other markets, including the HVAC/R, Pool and Spa, Medical and Industrial.
Standard and Custom Electronic Controls
Control Products designs and manufactures both standard and custom electronic controls for the commercial, industrial and consumer markets. Standard Products include temperature, humidity, pressure, IR, timers and proximity controls. The custom OEM Division designs and manufactures a broad array of custom control circuits..
Management Team
The management team is made up of seasoned business executives from fortune 500 companies including GE, Honeywell, Wendy's, Coca Cola, Zenith Data Systems and 3M.
Distribution
The Custom OEM Division of Control Products markets directly to OEMs. The Standard Products Division markets to both OEMs and Distributors. The Consumer Division markets to home centers, retailers, catalogs and directly to consumers via the internet.
Locations
Control Products is headquartered in Chanhassen, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis and owns three manufacturing facilities. Our global manufacturing plants are located in Chanhassen, Minnesota, Le Sueur, Minnesota and Suzhou, China. The Asian facility (take a tour) is wholly owned by Control Products.
Culture
Control Products is proud of its unique work environment, where it strives to focus on respect for all individuals. Control Products culture blends the values of family and business. Although the company has grown to several hundred associates, the company works hard at keeping the environment open through the practice of sharing with stakeholders all performance information, breaking down departmental barriers and rewarding associates for innovation.
Environmental Concerns
Control Products is committed to protecting the environment. Some of the steps taken to ensure a safe environment include:
- Compliance with regulations concerning hazardous substances both in our products and our plants.
- The first in our industry to establish a RoHS facility.
- Measure to ensure our suppliers are taking steps to protect the environment.
- Innovation to reduce our carbon foot print in terms of energy and waste conservation.
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