St. Joseph, MI – January 15, 2026 – Edgewater Automation is proud to celebrate its 25th anniversary, marking a quarter century of designing, building, and delivering advanced automation solutions that help customers solve complex manufacturing challenges. Founded in January 2001 by Rick Blake in St. Joseph, Michigan, Edgewater Automation began with five employees working out [...]
St. Joseph, MI – January 13th, 2025 – Edgewater Automation is excited to announce the promotion of Jason Lundy to Managing Director. This advancement reflects Jason's outstanding leadership, dedication, and significant contributions over the past decade. Jason Lundy has been a cornerstone of Edgewater Automation’s success, bringing innovative solutions and a collaborative spirit to every [...]
Empowering High School Students with Paid Apprenticeships Do you agree that high school students deserve a career they love without going into debt? Our president, Tim Tate, thinks so—and we do, too. Tim is part of a group leading a solution through the "Berrien Talent Collaborative." This initiative is helping students gain real-world experience while [...]
ST. JOSEPH, Michigan, January 9, 2024 – Edgewater Automation, a family owned business has announced that founder and president, Rick Blake has been named as Chief Executive Officer and Tim Tate as President. Tim is a seasoned and highly successful leader with a deep background in industrial automation industry. In 2006, Tim joined the company [...]
Just as Greg Klann marks his 20 years with Edgewater Automation, the veteran manufacturing and automation professional is retiring from a nearly 50-year career with some of Southwest Michigan’s iconic automation and manufacturing companies. “I started at Vickers Engineering in Harbert in 1974. I was an apprentice when it was a five-man shop, graduating Lake [...]
“That same family culture Rick established at Edgewater St. Joseph applies here, too.” - Scott McNabb, Edgewater Automation SC Not many can say they’ve worked with both their father and their son, but Scott McNabb can, and he’s happy to say it’s been enjoyable. He and dad Steve – who was “employee number 3” at [...]
When he was a kid, taking things apart and putting them back together again used to get Rick Orsillo in trouble. Later, he’d make a successful career doing just that. Born and raised in Grove City, PA, with older and younger sisters, Rick excelled at all things mechanical early on. Fixing the lawn mower, [...]
But I will miss the people…good people. And the work. It’s good work. It’s been challenging, it’s been fun. A different culture right from the start. These days at Edgewater, having a stack of RFPs in the pipeline is a sign that business is good. But Steve McNabb, who is “Edgewater Employee No. 3,” remembers [...]
“When you’re born you create a path. How do you educate yourself? Who do you hang with? These are important choices.” - Rich Cole Growing up in the shadow of Notre Dame’s Golden Dome in South Bend, Indiana, a young Rich Cole was never far from his Lego or motorized erector kits. That doesn’t surprise anyone who’s [...]
Edgewater Automation founder Rick Blake recently appeared on the long-running, nationally-syndicated business series Business First AM to discuss how his company is helping keep jobs in America. Host Angela Miles also posed the question: don’t robots take away jobs from people? To hear Rick’s answers to these questions, and to hear about his path [...]
