A Family of Entrepreneurs  

For 35 years the family behind The ML&E Company has played a vital role in a broad range of manufacturing success stories. Today, through strategic acquisition and leadership The ML&E Company is able to offer support in every aspect of operations to expedite your cycle to commercialization: the space, the people, and the capital.

Our History: A Tradition of Innovation

In the mid 70’s, the Wauford family began a small outsourcing company in order to be at the forefront of the outsourcing phenomenon for a variety of customers in the Richmond area. The business evolved from a converter of off-grade streams from clients' manufacturing processes to a proprietary partner of manufactured goods for several Fortune 50 companies.

By the mid 80’s, they began assembling a team of professionals with diverse business backgrounds. Additionally, the family began acquiring and forming independent companies in the performance materials market as well as a labor staffing company to support its cyclical business needs. Customers were able to reduce their costs while at the same time ensure that the work was done with systems in place to monitor quality, safety, and financial management. During this time, the family began strategically acquiring industrial real estate in which to house their various operations and to facilitate more growth opportunities.

The ML&E  Company was incorporated in 1998 as the managing company of the affiliated  businesses, designed to strategically and efficiently deploy its resources to  best serve a growing number of customers — from small manufacturers to Fortune  10 industrial entities.

Since inception, ML&E and its affiliated investment company have evolved into a closely held network of privately owned businesses with the range and capacity to support every phase of the business cycle from idea incubation to repeat manufacturing through the infusion of management systems, labor, space and capital. ML&E can assist with whatever is needed to reach the milestones of a corporate life cycle.

You sell it — we help you make it better.