__________________________________________________________________________________________ Compass
Precision
Act small, think
Multiple acquisitions and CEO succession help Compass continue its expansion from local shops to global operations big
Since forming in October 2019, Compass Precision( Compass) has successfully acquired ten machine shops, grown revenues fivefold, expanded from 65 to 225 employees, and increased manufacturing floor space from 75,000 to 188,000 square feet. The Charlottebased CNC machining roll-up was initially conceived by Dennis Prado, Ryan Davis and Gary Holcomb in 2018, before Main Street Capital Holdings purchased three local machine shops the following year and placed them under the Compass umbrella with Gary as President and CEO. Fast forward to January 2026, Bill Canning took over from the founder as CEO of Compass, and the group continues to serve aerospace and defense, space, life sciences, medical and semiconductor markets with precision machined components for mission critical applications. Both Bill and Gary join Manufacturing Today magazine to explain more about its acquisition strategy and notoriety for taking on challenging projects.
“ From the beginning, our strategy was to acquire high-end, well-run CNC machine and fabrication shops, then work with local management to make them even better and grow the business,” begins Gary, who remains Chairman at Compass.“ It wasn’ t long before we coined the phrase‘ we do the tough stuff’ as a slogan, which perfectly fits our strategy
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