Mohawk On Big Board
By JOSEPH E. KUEBLER
Beacon Journal Business Editor
NEW YORK - Mohawk Rubber Co.'s common stock was listed on the New York Stock Exchange today, climaxing a 15-year period of expansion in which earnings and sales increased nearly seven-fold.
The new ticker symbol, MWK, flashed across tapes in brokerage houses throughout the nation shortly after the 10 a. m. opening bell as Mrs. Henry M. Fawcett, wife of the Mohawk president, bought the first 100 shares through the exchange.
Usually the president or chief executive officer of the new exchange member participates in this traditional ceremony. When Fawcett was delayed in reaching the trading floor because he was slightly indisposed, his wife stepped forward to make the first purchase.
"SINCE WE USE a joint bank account, my credit should be as good as Hank's, and maybe I can sell this, back to him at a profit later on," she commented.
Mohawk has some 1,050,000 shares outstanding. The stock has been traded on the over-the-counter market until today.
Indirectly and as a stockholder, Mrs. Fawcett has had a long association with the company. "Hank" Fawcett joined the firm 26 years ago and has been president 15 years.
FOLLOWING the ceremonies today, the Mohawk party toured the world's busiest stock market and was the guest of exchange officials at a luncheon.
Founded in Akron 58 years ago, Mohawk becomes the ninth Akron-based company whose stock is traded on the "Big Board." The others are Goodyear, Firestone, B. F. Goodrich, General Tire, Ohio Edison, McNeil Corp, Knight Newspapers and Roadway Express, Inc.
While it is among the country's smaller tire manufacturers, Mohawk none the less has the distinction of being only one of a dozen or so firms in its industry to survive t h e troubles of the 20s, the depression of the 30s and the wartime limitations of the 40s.
BETWEEN WORLD WAR I
and the Korean War, the problems of these decades shipwrecked well over 200 companies.
Fawcett sees Mohawk's earnings approaching $2.5 million this year on sales of about $100 million. Both would be new records.
When he took over the presidency in 1956, income was $370,000 on sales of $15 million.
"THE LONGTERM outlook for Mohawk was never brighter," he told newsmen. "It took us 15 years to go from $15 million to $100 million. It shouldn't take us as long to reach $200 million.
"And God willing, I shall be managing Mohawk in the best interests of all who, are depending on it — customers, employes and stockholders — for another 15 years."
W. T. "Bill" Ernst, vice president-finance and treasurer, who has been collaborating for 26 years with Fawcett in Mohawk's expansion, agreed with the long term prospects.
"THE RECORD of the past 15 years is not only reflected in sales and earnings but in the price of Mohawk stock," he added. "A share which sells today for about $25 would have cost $3.65 if purchased in 1956.
"Even if you eliminate the inflation factor, this is a good gain and I am certain the future will be similarly reflected in the market."
Mohawk now operates 12 plants, including three in the
industrial rubber goods and rubber footwear field and employs 2,300. It has technical service contracts with companies in Israel, Korea and Mexico.
THE LATEST acquisitions in the last three years were in industrial rubber and footwear which now account for almost 10 pct. of sales.
They included Beebe Rubber Co., Nashua, N. H.; SAS
Rubber Co., Painesville, O. and Webster Rubber Co., Sabbatus, Me.
First major move in Mohawk's expansion program came in 1956 with the erection of a tire plant in Arkansas. Capacity there has grown from 600 units a day to about 8,000 currently.
A second new plant, completed in Salem, Va. in 1968, was financed by industrial revenue bonds.
