Headquarters: Pewaukee, Wisconsin
Founded: 1967
Revenues: Undisclosed
Employees: 200 worldwide, 135 in U.S.
Ticker: Private
Web Site: harken.com
What It Does: Sailboat and marine hardware and accessories
After 40 years in business, Peter Harken has earned the right to speak his mind. He refuses to send work to China to save money, branding companies that do so as “cowardly.” He realizes that it’s risky to build a pair of $10 million factories during an economic downturn, but maintains that Harken, Inc., has “never been afraid to put our [crucial anatomy] in a vise.”
Four decades of straight talk, hard work, and good luck have made Wisconsin-based Harken—founded by (above, left to right) Peter and his brother Olaf—one of the leading makers of sailboat and marine hardware and accessories. Its signature winch systems have been used in more than 90 percent of the boats competing in the America’s Cup since 1995, and are considered the industry standard. In fact, each sailboat competing in the big race contains an average of about $250,000 worth of Harken products.
The hardware Harken makes—winches, blocks (rope pulleys), travelers (hardware that guides the lines that control sail position), and furling systems for the sails—can be found aboard the largest yachts and cruisers. Nonsailing customers have included the Cirque du Soleil, which has used Harken equipment for its acrobatic shows. Harken’s other products, including such gear as deck shoes and gloves, are worn by sailors around the world. Most of the company’s sales are from contracts with leading boat makers and through the aftermarket.
The company’s origins reach back to late 1967, when Peter Harken was putting himself through school by working for a medical electronics company. His first love was sailing, however, and he kept equally busy designing boat pulleys that used plastic ball bearings instead of steel ones.
“There was only one other company in the United States that made plastic ball bearings,” Harken recalls. “We made our own equipment and built our own boats on the side. I did all that when I should’ve been going to class.”
When fellow sailing enthusiasts noticed how much more smoothly Harken’s pulleys worked, the brothers began hand-building them and selling them for $10 each. They used the income to supplement the money being made building boats, but operated on a shoestring—a plastic curtain and a $19 fan served as the government-mandated ventilation system in the garage where the brothers worked.
“We didn’t have a pot to piss in,” Harken recalls. “We didn’t have the means to machine these blocks in any efficient way, so we lost money on them even though people loved them.”
Harken suddenly found itself on the map when American competitive sailors Buddy Friedrichs and Lowell North won gold medals at the 1968 Olympics using Harken gear, prompting sailors worldwide to inquire about Harken’s products.
To handle the demand for the injection-molded ball bearing blocks that had become its calling card, Harken partnered with a Waukesha, Wisconsin, tool and die maker that still does production for the company today. “It was a handshake deal,” Harken says. “We like to work that way when we can.”
Today, Harken has more than 200 employees worldwide, including about 135 at its headquarters and factories in Pewaukee (about 10 miles west of Milwaukee) and Italy. Harken also has sales and service offices in half a dozen U.S. cities, as well as facilities in eight international locations. Harken does business in nearly 50 countries; more than half of its revenue is from overseas sales.
Neither of the Harkens has plans to retire. “I don’t know what else we would do,” Peter Harken says. “But when the time comes, we’ve got a bunch of young bucks who are ready to take over.”
