Meeting the challenge: how three area companies deal with a difficult economy.

• Author: Mayer, Kathy
• Position: Focus - Three successful Indiana companies

The secret to thriving in tough economic times can be found in lasagna, campers and banking, three Indiana companies demonstrate.

COMFORT FOODS

Good times and bad, everyone needs food. But what makes Kokomo's Olympic Food Products Inc. the company of choice for co-packaging, institutional and private-label orders for lasagna, macaroni and cheese and more? "The product category we manufacture," says president Gary Roberts.

"I don't think the frozen food business is recession proof, but its recession resistant. And we don't have to wait for the customer to walk in the door to make a sale. We go out to the customer."

Founded in 1970 as Tri-State Processing Co. Inc., Olympic was acquired by Minnesota's Downs Food Group in 1993, but thanks to support from the city, its operations stayed in Kokomo.

Today the company employs 135 and is now hiring another 40 as it brings in $1 million in new equipment for such comfort foods as hand-held chicken pot pies, cheese ravioli and fettuccine Alfredo.

CAMPERS' CAMPERS

Calling their four recreational vehicle products "campers' campers," Timberland RV Co.'s secret to success is listening, says co founder and vice president Kean MacOwan. "It's pretty simple. Find out what people want and then build that product."

Travelers want "all the toys"--storage, microwaves, two-door refrigerators, stereos and cable TV hookups, MacOwan says. "This isn't camping."

Launched in October 1999 when an investor sold MacOwan and an other industry expert on his dream, Timberland operates two Peru facilities and opens a third within the year. In the next 12 months, employment will jump from 230 to as many as 330, and the company will build more than 3,000 units, tallying $40 million in revenues.

Also important to its success: both MacOwan and...