Glengary LLC announced October 8 the sale of its client company Tooling University LLC to the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Beginning in 2005, Glengary invested both financial and managerial capital into the online training and content provider for the unique needs of manufacturers.
"Glengary's involvement was vital," said Jack Schron, co-founder and CEO, Tooling U. "Glengary's focus on investments in emerging growth companies from Northeast Ohio, combined with its collective partner knowledge and combined experience in manufacturing, software as a service, training as well as their understanding of requirements for growing an early stage company, made its partners uniquely positioned to support the growth of Tooling U. They remained committed partners during our entire growth process. Their desire to leverage our region's strengths, create companies that add jobs while creating value for customers were all goals shared by Tooling U's founders."
Today, Tooling U serves the ongoing training needs of over 300 companies, including Caterpillar and Chrysler; offers 600 classes in three languages (English, Spanish and Chinese); and, has provided training to more than 100,000 individuals worldwide.
"We were immediately attracted to Tooling U as it clearly fit the desire of Glengary's Founding Partners to invest and grow this type of emerging growth company in our region," said Steve Haynes, CEO of Glengary. "We appreciated the combined insight from Jergens and the Schron family on how to leverage technology when distributing and sharing Northeast Ohio's historical strength in manufacturing with companies across the globe."
Important to Glengary is that Tooling U will remain in Cleveland after the sale, as SME recognizes the location's inherent manufacturing expertise and history are complementary assets to online offering. "Glengary takes great comfort in knowing that its investment will continue to grow and contribute to Northeast Ohio long after our involvement," said Haynes.
