Published July 2001

‘Ma’ masters
foundry business

By Kathy Day
Herald Economy Writer

When Roy Mackenzie died 16 years ago, his wife of 29 years decided she had two choices: figure out how to run his business or lose everything.

Dorothy Nerison opted to take on the challenge of learning a business she knew nothing about: Mackenzie Castings, an Arlington foundry that makes parts used in the aluminum, marine, electrical, sewer, water, and pulp and paper industries.

“I thought, if a movie star can run this huge nation of ours, then I should be able to run a small foundry,” she said recently. “My three children were on their own, so I had only myself to answer to.”

Today, she’s the proud owner of a successful company that prides itself on its motto, “Do what you said you would do.” She’s also the first woman elected to serve on the board of the American Foundry Society, which, until she prodded them, had been called the Foundrymen’s Society.

But in 1985, she was a former teacher who had changed careers to enter the real estate business. When her husband died, the company’s debts topped $300,000, and his life insurance policy was for only $250,000, she said. The aluminum companies were cutting back, and she knew that if she closed the doors, she’d be “lucky to get 25 cents on the dollar.” And with 14 shareholders, not many of those pennies would come to her, she added.

The first day she spent in the office, she said, she was sitting behind Roy’s desk wondering what to do. She got up and walked into the foundry “to give the men a pep talk.”

At first, she said, they referred to her as “the old lady on the hill,” but as they came to know her and gained respect for her, she became “Ma.”

She learned the business and its tools, even though she sometimes mispronounced names of equipment. She drove the 5-ton truck to Canada — “once, and that’s it” — and she long ago stopped wearing high heels to work.

She attended Foundry Society meetings and found out who the big players were. Never shy, she said, she sidled up to them and asked lots of questions.

Nerison said she turned to her faith and her church to get her through the hard times that followed Roy’s death. And after she married Kenwyn Boyd Nerison, his support began to come into play. She also gives thanks to Jim Jones, then a banker at Seafirst, who recently retired from Frontier Bank.

But she takes credit for being smart about business, and today operates the company with no debt, she said.

For others finding themselves in the same boat, she advises: Understand the financial statements.

“Understand you are going to make lots and lots of mistakes,” she added. “Finish the day, go forward. Learn from your mistakes, and know you can’t go back ... so keep trying and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”

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