SIBLEY MACHINE CHANGING COURSE

Liquidating manufacturing assets and investing in the future

November 5, 2020 - South Bend, IN – A pillar in the community for 146 years is liquidating all its manufacturing assets and transforming their building in downtown South Bend into a skills development center that’s focused on educating young people and helping small businesses.

Sibley Machine Corp was founded in 1874 as a drill press manufacturer and later added a foundry. The Sibley family sold to the Holland family in 1900 and when Mr. Holland died, he left the company to his wife and daughter, Helen. Helen’s husband, Bernard Voll, a Notre Dame and Harvard Law graduate was preparing to open a law practice in South Bend but instead was persuaded to take over the family business. Today, Bernard’s grandson, Bill Voll, Jr., is finding innovative ways to help develop skilled trades in our community.

Sibley Machine stopped production in 2015 and it was during that time that Voll noticed a skills gap that led to difficulty finding employees. He has since made it his mission to help young people develop these real-world skills and encourage entrepreneurship. Currently, Voll is running a program that teaches students about new technologies which are then presented to businesses that wouldn’t otherwise know about, or be able to implement, on their own. After a liquidation auction on November 12, the Sibley building will be cleaned and renovated to provide a place for entrepreneurs looking to get started. Voll is calling this space an “Entrepreneur’s Mall” that will offer shared resources such as WIFI, loading docks, and more.

The auction will liquidate all the remaining manufacturing assets. It will be an online only auction conducted by Brolyn Auctions based in Elkhart. Brolyn is a local auction company that specializes in commercial and industrial online sales. They hold monthly consignment auctions for those looking to sell small amounts of equipment, or they can help liquidate an entire plant such as Sibley Machine.

An open preview for the auction will be held at Sibley Machine on Wednesday, November 11 from 9am until 4pm. Click here for more details.