Bob on Business: Fort Worth manufacturer acquired by German company with focus on growth

KPS Global is a manufacturer that offers a broad range of walk-in solutions and services for cold chain and non-refrigerated environments across the food, retail and scientific markets. The Fort Worth-based company recently opened a new innovation center on the north side where customers can see examples of the company’s many offerings. “Most of our business is custom orders,” Mike Eakins, CEO of KPS Global, said during a tour of the innovation center. “Customers might look at a story and say, ‘this store looks the exact same as the other store,’ but for us, it’s not the case. Every store has different plumbing drops, electrical drops and posts and columns in different locations.” That’s why they built the innovation center, he said. “It’s meant to be an interactive experience between us and our customer and vendor partners, and that’s proven to be the case,” Eakins said. Headquartered in Fort Worth, the company has five manufacturing facilities to serve customers anywhere in the world. The company has more than 850 employees. If you don’t know the company, it’s likely you’ve encountered the products. Though the company doesn’t disclose clients, Eakins said their customers include the top grocers in North Texas. KPS Global was formed in 2015 by D Cubed Group through the acquisition of Kysor Panel Systems and the Hillphoenix walk-ins division. But the company’s history traces back several decades to Charles Needham taking leadership in the walk-in freezer industry from his home garage in 1947. He eventually moved his business to Fort Worth and officially founded Charles Needham Industries in 1956. Last month, KPS Global was acquired by the Viessmann Generations Group, a 107-year-old family company, with plans for expansion. “KPS Global is a strong addition to our ecosystem,” said Max Viessmann, CEO of Viessmann, during a visit to Fort Worth in October. “We look forward to expanding our clean and cold North America platform together with the experienced and proven KPS Global management team to grow within and beyond its core markets and drive value creation organically and inorganically, in line with our purpose of co-creating living spaces for generations to come.” The family-owned investment firm focuses on growth potential, with a long-term outlook and a hands-off approach, said Viessmann. “Eyes open, hands off, that is our philosophy,” he said. Viessmann has a strong focus on transforming clean and cold solutions to increase energy efficiency and reduce waste. Viessmann companies consist of entrepreneurs and co-creators with a clear focus on carbon dioxide emissions avoidance, reduction and capture.KPS Global is the perfect partner for this, Viessmann said. “The KPS Global business directly contributes to our vision to reduce CO2 emissions and improve the quality of life for the world’s growing population,” he said. “Our strong European footprint in clean and cold offers opportunities to leverage each other’s knowledge and expertise.” Boutique communications firm receives award The S&G Group, a boutique strategic communications firm based in Arlington, earned its fourth Best of Show recognition in the Greater Fort Worth PRSA Worthy Awards competition, which concluded earlier this month. Led by Sandra Brodnicki and Gigi Westerman, The S&G Group offers strategic planning and integrated communications services.The team took top honors in the 11th annual competition for its crisis communications efforts conducted on behalf of Girls Inc. of Tarrant County in 2023.“We are honored to support an organization that is doing important work in our community but is also navigating rough waters,” Westerman said. “We take a comprehensive and strategic approach to managing issues that might arise, and our goal is always to help clients emerge stronger and more equipped to move forward.”The S&G Group also took home a 2024 Award of Excellence in brand management for Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County. The award recognized communications strategy supporting the nonprofit’s introduction of Blue Door Kitchen, an on-site, state-of-the-art, $2 million commercial production kitchen capable of serving hot nutritious meals and snacks to 3,500 club members daily. The Worthy Awards recognize the best in strategic communications. Since the award program’s inception in 2012, The S&G Group has been recognized nearly two dozen times, including Best of Show wins in 2012, 2013 and 2021. Prior awards were presented for communications strategy and tactics developed on behalf of Catholic Charities of Fort Worth, Tarrant County Health Department and Mental Health Connection, as well as clients in aviation, education and business.TPG makes investment Fort Worth and San Francisco-based TPG, through its TPG Next platform, has taken a minority interest in Demopolis Equity Partners, which makes control and growth equity investments in lower middle market software companies, with a focus on business-to-business technology. TPG Next is focused on seeding and scaling the next generation of investment firms.New hotel for Bedford A new Holiday Inn Express is coming to Bedford. Plans have been filed for a 50,500-square-foot hotel at 2609 Airport Freeway. The $6.5 million project is expected to be complete in January 2026. More Cooley Auto Group acquisitions Clay Cooley Auto Group has acquired Don Davis Ford and Don Davis Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram in Arlington. The Ford dealership will operate under the name Clay Cooley Ford and the Chrysler dealership will take on the Clay Cooley Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram name. Do you have something for the Bob on Business column? Email Bob Francis at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. Bob Francis is business editor for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.