SUM OF ITS PARTS: A 71-year-old Concord company continues the family tradition of manufacturing custom machined parts through three generations.

• Author: Wanbaugh, Taylor

Gears grind and dust flies in the workshop behind the Ketchie Inc. headquarters in Concord. Workers in foggy goggles, heavy work boots and worn gloves operate the heavy machinery, and screeches and squeals fill the air as the metal gears grind. President Courtney Ketchie Silver's face lights up just thinking about it.

"To just take a piece of metal and then to make this part out of a piece of steel that's so useful that's going onto a machine. ... It's really neat to be a part of that whole solution and supply chain of it," says Silver, who has a degree in supply-chain management from Michigan State University. After graduation, she joined Bank of America in Charlotte, where she met her late husband, Bobby Ketchie.

Bobby's grandfather, Edgar Ketchie Sr., founded the machined parts manufacturer with partner Marvin Houston in 1947. Houston sold his interest in 1972, and in 1976, Bobby's father, Ed Ketchie Jr., joined the company, becoming president four years later. The third generation of Ketchies joined in 2004 when Bobby came on board, eventually becoming president and majority owner in 2006.

Tragedy struck in 2014, when Bobby died at 35 after a 7 1/2-year battle with brain cancer. Silver, who started at Ketchie in 2008 running the human resources, purchasing and financial departments, was left with a 2-year-old, another baby on the way, and a company to lead. It was devastating, but she persevered and never stopped looking toward the future.

"I felt I knew exactly what I needed to do," Silver, 37, says. It was really just a matter of what order I was going to do it, what was I going to focus on. But in the end, everyone stayed, no one left. So it is really the team of people that have kept this company going.... I have always felt extremely supported by the employees here, my friends and family and faith."

Ketchie has grown from a job shop that serviced local textile mills to nearly 500 international customers, shipping its custom machined parts to all 50 states and across five continents. In addition to creating parts for industries such as railroad, mining, lumber and textiles, Ketchie also produces its own line of mounted bearings, which are used in power-transmission applications.

Silver says sales at the 28-employee company through October have increased 31% to more than $5 million compared with the previous year. The company typically invests 12% to 15% of its sales into capital expenses, including new equipment. "We have invested...