Somic America Brings Together Two Wythe Manufacturers

WYTHEVILLE – Effective January 1, Wytheville Technologies, Inc. (WTI) and Brewer Automotive Components, Inc. (BAC) completed a merger to form Somic America, Inc. The newly formed company will continue to operate manufacturing facilities in Virginia and Maine, supplying components to North American auto makers, including Toyota and Subaru. The merger gives the company direct access to machining and plating capabilities and will make the company more competitive in the challenging climate of the automotive industry. WTI has been a major supplier of material and plating services to BAC for several years.

Prior to the merger, Somic Ishikawa was a partial owner of both WTI and BAC. Somic Ishikawa, along with WTI and BAC, was a key player in early development of Progress Park, a premier regional industrial park located in Wythe County. Reflecting on the company’s evolution, Somic America’s Vice President of Operations, Peter Argue, noted, “WTI and BAC have flourished in Wythe County. Unifying these companies under the Somic America umbrella provides a strong foundation for the company’s future growth in the North American market.”

Somic America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Somic Ishikawa of Hamamatsu, Japan. Somic America manufactures suspension and steering components at three manufacturing facilities, two in Wytheville, Virginia, and one in Brewer, Maine. The Brewer facility opened in 1989, with the Virginia operations commencing in 2000.