January 31, 2017

Baleco International offers a wide variety of pool water treatment products including Aquamate, Maintain Pool Pro as well as providing private labeling services. Baleco began as Cincinnati Soap Center in 1958 before adding pool chemistry in 1962. Baleco moved to its current 100,000 square foot facility at North Bend, OH in 1979.

“We are thrilled to welcome Baleco into the Haviland family. Their facility, their location and capabilities are a great fit for us, but their people and the way they respond to customers was the key.” said Art Harre, Haviland Chief Sales Officer. “We want them do what they’ve done successfully for almost 60 years – service the customer.”

Haviland, founded in 1934 is an employee-owned ESOP, celebrating its 20th anniversary of employee ownership in 2017.

“We’re looking at this as a partnership.” said Art. “They have really strong brands and their pool accessory line is a great compliment to our pool hose products.”

Jeff Hammersmith agrees. “As a family-owned company, we were looking to do what’s best for the next generation.” says Jeff, son of Baleco’s founder, Lee Hammersmith. “The Haviland family had the same decision some years ago and they decided to become employee-owned (ESOP). We’re happy to be able to add our employees into their ESOP family. This is a great fit for our people and for our business. Haviland is looking at customer first, and that’s always been our focus.”

Haviland will retain all of Baleco’s employees. Baleco International Inc. A Haviland Company can be contacted at 513.353.3000. [url=http://www.baleco.com]http://www.baleco.com[/url]

About Haviland Pool and Spa Products
From its headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Haviland Pool and Spa manufactures, blends, packages and distributes seven unique pool and spa chemical treatment brands for commercial and home pools and spas. Haviland serves a wide variety of customers, from Fortune 500 companies with global operations to small, regional distributors across the United States. Its products are found in seven countries.