Company Profile
Company Profile: Industrial Magnetics

History: Celebrating 60 Years

Celebrating 60 years, Industrial Magnetics, Inc. (IMI) has grown from selling magnets out of the trunk of a car in Detroit, MI to providing hundreds of magnetic products and assemblies worldwide.

Mike Stowe started the company in 1961, and his original magnets were designed for applications in the automotive industry. In the early 1980s, Stowe moved the company to Boyne City on the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan.

According to Chief Business Development Officer Dennis O’Leary, “We remain a privately held company and have fortunately experienced substantial growth since our founding. The food, feed, and grain industries are among key sectors for our many magnetic separation products and engineering services.”

As IMI grew, it expanded its portfolio by manufacturing and servicing small and large-scale magnetic separators alike.

“Anywhere equipment such as blenders, blades, sifters, screeners, and most any other piece of process equipment is being used for harvesting, mixing, grinding, and all of the adjacent processing operations, magnets are needed to remove minute particles, shavings, and other ferrous metals to prevent contamination,” explains O’Leary.

In February 2021, IMI bought 125-year-old Walker Magnets in Columbus, OH to further its growth. “We found we could be competitive with other stalwarts in the industry,” says O’Leary. “We got out of our comfort zone and gained the capacity to serve many more customers.”

IMI has made several other acquisitions over the years: Prater Industries, Bolingbrook, IL; Sterling Systems & Controls, Sterling, IL; Javelin Manufacturing, Ft. Wayne, IN; and Clamp Mfg. Co., Inc., South El Monte, CA. IMI now has more than 110 employees, 70 of whom have served for an average of 15 years. It recently added two new regional managers to cover eight western states.

“Regional managers live in the regions they cover, most are degreed engineers, and they all have a deep passion for our company and customers,” he adds.

Philosophy: Prioritizing Community

Industrial Magnetics prioritizes giving back to its community through fundraisers for schools and other youth-oriented functions.

“We help fund high school trade programs,” says O’Leary. “We try to ensure that high school graduates understand that trade skills are necessary and jobs leveraging those skills are honorable. We provide internships to further educate students on the manufacturing sector.”

IMI is family oriented, so weekends typically are family time for employees unless there are pressing customer product needs. “We have periodic family gatherings with widespread participation,” he says. “At work, everyone has roles and responsibilities. If an employee has an idea to help move the company forward, we go for it.”

As a company that’s close to its community, IMI rarely posts job openings. New employees often are hired via word of mouth. “Our motto of ‘making things better’ has a different meaning for everyone,” says O’Leary.

We try to ensure that high school graduates understand that trade skills are necessary and jobs leveraging those skills are honorable.

-Dennis O’Leary, Industrial Magnetics

Products: Milling, Food, Feed, and Grain Industries

Industrial Magnetics designs, engineers, and manufactures magnetic assemblies and magnetic separation devices for virtually every industrial need, including those in the milling, food, feed, and grain industries.

For food, feed, and flour millers, IMI provides a broad menu of magnets to meet application demands – whether it is for capital equipment protection, consumer protection, or both.

According to O’Leary, IMI magnetic assemblies provide ferrous tramp metal separation in bins, chutes, hoppers, and a variety of other locations throughout a process stream. “Drawer-in-housing magnets and large-tube housing magnets provide additional methods to help mills maintain products free of metal contaminants. For milling, our gravity and pneumatic line offerings of magnets are our bread and butter.

“Many older mills often resemble a patchwork,” explains O’Leary. “Many retrofitted parts can create issues with metal contamination, and how to adequately fit separators that will prove successful is our goal. IMI magnets can help ensure milled products are free of contaminants and meet regulatory requirements. IMI’s magnetic circuitry options enable flour mills to adhere to regulatory guidelines.”

IMI’s new Opti series of magnets are designed to address magnet separator standards set by the Food Safety Modernization Act and other industry regulations. “Each circuit is earmarked with critical measurements for specification, purchase, audit, verification, and validation requirements,” he adds. “These circuits meet a minimum and measurable threshold of repeatable magnet performance.

“IMI is proud to be an industry leader in providing both permanent magnets and electromagnets for work holding, lifting, fixturing, conveying, and magnetic separation,” O’Leary concludes.

Larry Stalcup, contributing writer

From Second Quarter Milling Journal 2021

Company Profile

Boyne City, MI

231-582-3100

Dennis O’Leary

Chief Business

Development Officer

Products & Services

Designs, engineers, and manufactures magnetic material handling and separation devices and magnetic assemblies for virtually every industrial need.

Corporate Timeline

1961 Company founded in Detroit, MI by Mike Stowe, who designed magnets for application in the automotive industry.

1980s Relocated to Boyne City, MI and expanded into grain, food, feed, and flour milling industries.

2014-on Acquired other magnet-related and auxiliary equipment companies, including: Prater Industries, Bolingbrook, IL; Sterling Systems & Controls, Sterling, IL; Javelin Manufacturing, Ft. Wayne, IN; and Clamp Mfg. Co., Inc., South El Monte, CA.

2021 Celebrates its 60th anniversary. Acquires 125-year-old Walker Magnetics, Windsor, CT/Columbus, OH.