Message from the President - Tiffin Area Chamber of Commerce

19 West Market Street • Tiffin, Ohio 44883 • 419-447-4141 • info@tiffinchamber.com
Upcoming Events
Thursday, October 4
Groundbreaking and Open
House at Coppus Motors.
Gather at 4:15 p.m. Ceremony
at 4:30 p.m. Open House from
3 to 8 p.m. Refreshments and
appetizers.
Wednesday, October 10
Small Business Basics Seminar,
Exploring the Possibilities
of Starting, Buying or Expanding
a Business, 9:30 to 11:30
a.m. at the Chamber Office.
RSVP to 1-800-826-2431 or
bauxter@terra.edu.
Saturday, October 13
Downtown Farmers Market,
last one of the season! South
Washington Street between E.
Market and E. Perry Sts., 9 a.m
to 1 p.m.
Friday, October 19
Ambassadors Meeting at the
Chamber office, 12 noon.
Please RSVP.
Tuesday, October 23
Tiffin Area Safety Council at
Tiffin Moose Lodge, 11:30 a.m.
Please RSVP here.
Thursday, October 25
Seneca Regional Chamber of
Commerce Annual Meeting at
Mohawk Golf & Country Club,
Social Hour at 6 p.m.; Program
at 7 p.m. See more details on
page 2.
Message from the President
This month's Member Spotlight features our
Annual Meeting keynote speaker, Andrew
Kalnow, President of Alpha Capital Partners
and CEO/Principal Owner of National
Machinery Company. The article traces the
history of the Frost-Kalnow Family in Tiffin
through and including the resurgence of
National Machinery. To say that our community
is blessed with the philanthropy of
this family would be a gross understatement.
On January 1st of this year, the visitor’s bureau
came under the umbrella of the chamber
and Destination Seneca County was created.
In December of 2011, information was
collected for a 2012 Visitors Guide book.
The book was printed and ready for distribution
in February of this year. It is now
time for us to begin the process for the
2013 Visitors Guide with January 2013 as
the goal for publication.
Jill SanGregory is again selling ads for this
guide which is widely distributed and 50,000
copies will be printed. You may contact Jill
Special Member Spotlight Article
Please mark you calendars for Thursday,
October 25 beginning at 6 p.m. at Mohawk
Golf and Country Club for our Annual Meeting.
In addition to our keynote speaker, the
awards for Outstanding Citizen, Women's
Excellence and a special President's Award
will be bestowed.
Enjoy this great read!
John Detwiler
President & CEO
2013 Visitors Guide Book
directly to inquire about advertising rates
by e-mailing jillsangregory@woh.rr.com.
A copy of the rate sheet will be posted on
www.destinationsenecacounty.org when it
becomes available.
The 2012 Visitors Guide received some very
positive feedback. The guide is used to promote
Seneca County and has information
about our accommodations, museums, recreational
facilities, restaurants, events and
much more. Watch for the 2013 Visitors
Guide in January!
Want to know what else is happening in October?
For a complete calendar of community events, check out the Chamber’s website.

•September After Five
Mayor Aaron Montz (left) talks
with Gina Reuter (center) and
Karl Kerschner at the September
After Five.
Meyer & Kerschner, Ltd.
hosted an After Five on
Thursday, September 20th.
There was a nice turnout
from the community and
attendees enjoyed a tour
of M & K’s beautiful office
building, located at 106 E.
Market Street. Managing
partner, Karl C. Kerschner,
together with Attorneys
Mike Stultz, Chris Camboni,
and Julie Carroll Darling
and the rest of the
staff, mingled with guests
and discussed the firm’s
success and dedication to
Seneca County.
Guests were amazed at
how large the historic four
story building actually is,
and were also impressed
to learn that Meyer & Kerschner
has grown into a
regionally recognized
leader in the representation
of financial institutions,
with a growing statewide
practice.
•Save the Date for the Annual Meeting
Tiffin Tomorrow
October Events
Saturday, October 13
2nd Annual Pizza Palooza
4 to 8 p.m.
South Washington Street
and the Court House Lawn.
7 local pizza shops will be
selling samples. Beverages
and desserts will also be
available. Musical entertainment
and children’s games.
Sunday, October 21
Soup & Trolley Fest
11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tiffin Train Depot on N.
Monroe Street. Soup lunches
from downtown eateries
available for $5. Trolley rides
following the original trolley
route through downtown
Tiffin to Greenlawn Cemetery.
Rides run on the hour
from 12 to 4 p.m. Cost is $5
Lisa Swickard will also be
guiding historic walking
tours along Frost Parkway.
Free hot cider, music, 1913
flood display and raffle
items.
page 2
The Chamber has scheduled
its Annual Meeting for
Thursday, October 25 at
Mohawk Golf & Country
Club. Social hour begins at
6 p.m. with the program
following at 7 p.m.
•Special Member to Member Benefits
The businesses listed below currently have coupons
in the Member to Member Benefits page on our
website:
AAA Ohio Auto Club
$10 off a new or renewal membership
Angie’s Boutique
10% off product. 20% off when you pre-order Glop
& Glam. September Only Special: $5 off any purchase
of $25 or more or $10 off any purchase of $50
or more.
Animal Hospital of Tiffin
10% off a wellness exam for cat or dog, plus a free
bag of treats
Carmie’s Grill & Bar
free french fries with a purchase of a sandwich/
wrap/burger
CLI Document Destruction
10% discount on document shredding
Draperies and Designs, Inc.
free stock lining on drapery order
Kuebler Shoe Store
15% off regular priced merchandise
Lee’s Famous Recipe
*Free regular size drink with purchase of 3-piece
The keynote speaker for
the evening is Andrew Kalnow
of National Machinery
(see this month’s Member
Spotlight article next pg).
A cash bar is available and
jumbo breast strip meal for only $4.99 or 3 piece
leg, thigh & wing for only $4.99
*Purchase a 20-piece boxed mixed chicken for only
$19.99. Coupon expires 11/30/2012.
Marco’s Pizza
25% discount on regularly priced items.
Maurice’s
Free jewelry with $60 purchase
McClung’s Animal Hospital
10% discount on Moochie & Company products
Shake Shak
free chicken sandwich with purchase of a chicken
sandwich
Subway
free smoothie with purchase of a smoothie
Tom Rodgers’ Flowers
10% off any purchase
heavy hors d’oeuvres will
be served. The cost is $25
per person. Reservations
are needed by October 18.
Please RSVP to The Chamber
at 419-447-4141 or
info@tiffinchamber.com.
Zellner Pharmacy
20% discount on Good Neighbor Pharmacy Products
(GNP)
If you have any questions or would like to see your
name on this list, please call 419-447-4141 and ask
for Deb Martorana.
October Newsletter

•Member Spotlight … Andrew Kalnow/National Machinery
Born and raised in Tiffin, Andrew
Kalnow was the second
of four children of the late
Jane Frost and Carl R. Kalnow,
two prominent local citizens
with lineage on the Frost side
of the family that go back to
earlier roots in the history of
Tiffin.
Andrew’s mother hailed from
the Frost family, and his great
grandfather Meshach was
one of the first employees of
National Machinery company
after its founding in 1874 in
Cleveland. Following the
company’s move to Tiffin 10
years later, Meshach bought
out his partners after a daring
bet and with the help of infamous
New York financier Diamond
Jim Brady. Boom times
were just beginning at National
and for Tiffin in the late
1880s. Meshach’s son, Earl,
assumed the presidency of
National Machinery as a
young man in 1903 and led
the company to a remarkable
period of prosperity and international
acclaim as the
best machinery company in
its field.
Andrew’s father Carl Rudolf
Kalnow, hailed from Port Orchard,
Washington and was
the son of a light house
keeper. After an initial career
step in banking, he attended
the Harvard Business School
to receive an MBA, and then
quickly enrolled in the Navy
after Pearl Harbor, and
served as a Lieutenant Commander
and ship captain of
large landing crafts in the
European theater at North
Africa, Sicily and Normandy.
Upon the recommendation of
a business school buddy who
was a scion of Brockway Glass
Co., after the war Carl took a
job as the controller of Tiffin
Glass Company, as the glass
container business still represented
a growth industry at
the time. However, his prior
banking experience was soon
discovered, and he was
courted to be the top executive
of Tiffin Savings
Bank. Later, he become
President of the largest bank
in Tiffin, Commercial National
Bank, when it was purchased
from the Friedman family by
Jane Frost Kalnow and family
trusts. Known as and selfpromoted
as “The Friendly
Banker,” Carl Kalnow took
pride in being assessable to
the average customer. Importantly,
he was dedicated to
banking people on their character
and potential, and gave
early backing to the likes of
Bob Klepper (Superior Distributing)
and others in Tiffin
who went on to much success.
Andrew Hendershott Kalnow
attended Krout School and
the old East Junior High prior
to going to boarding school at
Cranbrook School in Michigan
and, later, Lawrence University
(BA) and Babson College
(MBA). In October 1976 during
his second year at Babson,
Andrew’s father died
suddenly of a heart attack. At
the time, he seriously debated
dropping out of the
MBA program in order to
attend to family business
matters, but was convinced
by his mother to do otherwise.
Instead, she placed him
at the early age of 23 on the
board of directors of National
Machinery Co., Commercial
National Bank, and another
company in Cleveland in
which the Kalnow family had
a major interest. In the meantime,
Andrew migrated from
Boston to Chicago in 1977 to
be a management trainee at
The First National Bank of
Chicago, which was then the
10th largest bank in the
United States. After rising
quickly from trainee to Vice
President in six short years,
Andrew decided that juggling
priorities between climbing
the ladder at FNB of Chicago
and helping monitor and
guide the family business
holdings during more difficult
times, was simply too difficult
continued on page 5
October Newsletter
page 3

•Recent Ribbon Cuttings
A ribbon cutting was held for Smith Insurance
Agency on Thursday, September 20.
A ribbon cutting was held for new business G &
H Trading Co. on Thursday, September 27.
A ribbon cutting was held for new business Phat
Cakes & Café on Thursday, September 27.
A ribbon cutting was held for new business Bunky’s
Bicycle Service on Thursday, September 27.
A ribbon cutting was held for Home Savings Mortgage
Center on Thursday, September 27.
A ribbon cutting was held for new business Select
Realty Group on Thursday, September 27.
Page 4
October Newsletter

•Member Spotlight...continued from page 3
become the Alpha Capital
family of funds which, over
the course of four limited
partnerships and about 25
years, managed approximate
$130 million of capital in the
private equities.
During this time period, Andrew
quietly kept a presence
in Tiffin and was active behind
the scenes. He helped
orchestrate the continued
growth of Commercial National
Bank, which culminated
in the purchase of the
second largest bank in Fostoria.
At National Machinery
the times had become more
challenging. Competition had
become ferocious with overseas
competitors who copied
National’s products and/or
out-maneuvered the company.
Debts had mounted
and management was challenged
by lenders. Ultimately,
National when through a series
of ups and downs: during
the late 1980s the company
successfully transitioned from
an over-extended and dated
line-up of traditional products
to a new machine design
called FORMAX, which represented
a powerful advancement
in machine technology.
But the cost of re-tooling and
re-equipping the two main
factories in Tiffin and Nuernberg,
Germany brought on
new debts and difficulties.
This came to the forefront in
the early 1990s when National’s
large German subsidiary
was forced to file bankruptcy
and the operation in
Tiffin was threatened for a
brief period of time. Then,
with the boom in SUV sales
among the Big 3 Automotive
companies in Detroit, the
strong investment in new
equipment in automotive
supply sector in America during
that time, and the resounding
success of NM’s
FORMAX line of machines
worldwide, National Machinery
enjoyed a deceptive period
of prosperity in the mid
and late 1990s. This culminated
with the recapitalization
of National Machinery
whereby a majority stake in
the company was sold by
Kalnow family trusts in November
1998 to a New York
private equity firm.
On the first business day after
Christmas 2001, the doors at
National Machinery on
Greenfield Street did not
open. The company was
doomed by the overlapping
ripple effects of a business
downturn turned recession,
of the 9-11 terrorist attack,
and of a vicious stand-off
disagreement of National’s
private equity owners and a
group of bank lenders to the
company. National Machinery
was closed by titans of
finance, and it remained
closed for two months with
great uncertainty for
all… employees, customers,
suppliers and the community
of Tiffin, Ohio.
After months of behind the
scenes efforts that began
before the December shuttering
at 161 Greenfield Street,
Andrew Kalnow (and the
group of investors he organized,
including his family, Alpha
Capital and others) succeeded
in purchasing National
Machinery Co. Since
that time, Andrew and the
management team at National
have built back the
company to new and lasting
health. By restructuring operations,
revitalizing the
product lines, adding new
business units, and expanding
overseas, today’s National
Machinery LLC is new company
embodying the best of
the past with the benefit of
progressive new ideas and
new energy. Andrew has also
gone on to expand National
into a small industrial holding
company, NM Group Global
LLC, which owns two other
operating companies and a
start-up operation in China.
When his schedule permits,
Andrew devotes time to community
affairs. He serves as
Chairman of the National
Machinery Foundation, which
annually funds many causes
and organizations in Seneca
County. Since the late 1980s
he has served on the board of
trustees of Heidelberg University.
He has an interest in
historical restoration coupled
with progress and community
revitalization, including in the
Tiffin area.
Andrew maintains homes in
Chicago and Tiffin. He is married
to Cindy Kalnow, and has
two grown children by a former
marriage, Drew Frost
Kalnow and Cara Yager Kalnow.
His brother Carl is on
the boards of National Machinery
LLC, NM Group Global
LLC, and the National Machinery
Foundation. He was a
founding member of the Ritz
Theatre. His sister Loretta
serves on the board of National
Machinery Foundation,
as does his son Drew. His
other sister Gert, serves on
the board of the Meshach
Frost Trust, and is a past trustee
of Tiffin University. The
greater Kalnow family have
been and continue to be
benefactors to various organizations
and causes in
Tiffin.
The Around the Town at
Tiffin University was
held on September 12.
The Gillmor Center was
full of local businesses
sharing their information
with students, faculty
and staff.
October Newsletter
page 5