From Good Bones to New Growth: Stuart Leonard’s Next Chapter at Magnaform

After purchasing a longtime Fort Smith manufacturer, Stuart Leonard is focused on growing Magnaform, finding new customers and making the most of the company’s strong foundation.

When Stuart Leonard decided he wanted to own a manufacturing company, he wasn't necessarily looking for the newest equipment or the biggest operation. He was looking for a business with a strong foundation and an opportunity to build something of his own.

He found that opportunity in Magnaform.

Based in Fort Smith, Magnaform has been in business since 1985, manufacturing thermoformed plastic trays primarily for the food industry. The trays are used to keep individual food products separated during freezing and packaging, helping manufacturers protect their products and make bulk packaging easier to handle. The material is designed to withstand temperatures around -40 degrees Fahrenheit without becoming brittle, making it well suited for frozen food applications.

The company's products are used for a variety of applications, including poultry, pork, gourmet breading and even fudge. One customer uses Magnaform trays to hold up to eight pounds of fudge at a time. The trays may be simple in appearance, but they solve an important problem for manufacturers trying to protect the quality and consistency of their products. Stuart purchased Magnaform in December 2022 after spending years working in manufacturing and industrial sales. He had experience with both larger organizations and family-owned businesses, but he had also experienced the uncertainty that can come with changes in ownership and company structure. After seeing sales territories and customer accounts divided up more than once, he decided he wanted to take a different path.

“I had lived through that twice and had enough of that conversation,” Stuart said. “So I started looking for a way to purchase my own business.”

When he found Magnaform, he saw a company with history and staying power. The business had survived recessions, changes in the market and the challenges that come with being a small manufacturer. When Stuart took over, there was only one employee, but he believed the company had something worth building on.

“It had good bones, if you will,” Stuart said. “It had a good background. It survived all the different recessions since ’85. And it’s in the food business. People are not going to quit eating.”

Since taking ownership, Stuart has been looking for ways to grow Magnaform without losing sight of what has made the company successful. Food remains an important part of the business, but he is also looking for opportunities in other industries where the company's products could solve a similar problem.

Electronics is one example. Magnaform has found opportunities to manufacture trays that keep electronic boards separated and protected during handling and transportation. Stuart sees potential in industries like this, particularly as more companies look to bring manufacturing and supply chains closer to home. At the same time, growth has to be managed carefully. For a small manufacturer, landing a large customer can sound like the perfect answer, but Stuart knows that too much volume from one customer can create a different set of problems. Magnaform needs customers that fit the company's capabilities and allow the business to grow without becoming dependent on a single account.

“The biggest thing is, which customer do you chase?” Stuart said. “Because if you’re not careful, you’ll find that customer who on paper is massive, but then they become the giant elephant that overtakes everything else.”

That philosophy also shapes the way Stuart thinks about equipment. Magnaform operates with machinery that is relatively simple compared with the highly automated systems found in many modern manufacturing facilities. While he knows automation will eventually be important to increasing capacity, he doesn't believe a company has to have the newest technology to produce a quality product.

In fact, the simplicity of Magnaform's equipment can be an advantage. Stuart understands the machinery and can work on much of it himself rather than relying on specialized technicians every time something needs attention. As the company grows, however, he is considering ways to automate portions of the operation, including packaging and potentially using a cobot or robot so one operator can tend multiple machines.

The key, he says, is making the investment when the business case makes sense. If a customer brings enough volume and is willing to make a longer-term commitment, that could justify purchasing new equipment and increasing capacity.

“You don’t have to have the most high-tech, latest technology to run a company or to produce a product,” Stuart said. “You can do it with 1980 model equipment.”

Today, Magnaform has grown to two full-time and two part-time employees. The company was once much larger, with more than 20 operators working across two shifts in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Stuart sees an opportunity to grow toward that level again, but he wants to do it intentionally. One of the company's biggest strengths is the knowledge already inside the building. Stuart is particularly proud of his main operator, who has been with Magnaform for nearly 10 years and stayed with the company through difficult periods, including COVID and the transition to new ownership. Her experience with the equipment and the production process is something Stuart considers invaluable, and he expects her to take on a management role as the company continues to expand.

For Stuart, that is part of what makes manufacturing rewarding. Growth isn't simply about adding machines or winning a large contract. It's about building a team, developing people and creating a business that can continue to operate and grow over time.

That is also where RAMP has become an important part of Magnaform's next chapter. Stuart learned about the program through the Arkansas Department of Commerce following a sponsored trade show. What appealed to him was the opportunity to bring an outside perspective into the business, learn about resources available to Arkansas manufacturers and make connections that could lead to new customers and opportunities.

As Magnaform moves forward, Stuart is taking a measured but ambitious approach. He wants to expand the customer base, explore new industries, improve capacity and eventually bring more automation into the operation. But he also understands that a company with more than four decades of history has already proven something important: the foundation works.

The next step is figuring out how far he can build on it.

“We’re doing it with blood, sweat, and tears,” Stuart said. “But it’s got a good backbone.”

For Stuart Leonard, that backbone is what makes Magnaform worth investing in. The company doesn't need to reinvent itself to have a future. It needs the right customers, the right people and the right opportunities to turn a solid foundation into sustainable growth.