KINGSFORD — Lake Shore Systems Inc. has announced its integration into Trident Maritime Systems.

Lake Shore, “a leading designer and manufacturer of heavy equipment for the maritime and mining industries since 1858, has worked side by side with Trident for decades,” officials said in a news release.

Trident and Lake Shore will join forces to “provide a comprehensive network of integrated services that will better serve their customers worldwide,” the release states.

“Together, the companies will continue to provide the exceptional service and high-quality products that customers have come to expect.”

Lake Shore began business operations as Lake Superior Foundry Company in Marquette on July 14, 1858. The company has changed ownership over the years, but has maintained its primary manufacturing and engineering facilities in the Upper Peninsula for over 160 years.

The current primary locations include Kingsford, Iron River, and Ontonagon, and Rhinelander, Wisconsin.

While the company has adapted to changing markets over time, there has consistently been a focus on maritime and mining equipment, officials said.

In the early days, Lake Shore made equipment for iron ore mines and Great Lakes freighters. In 1910, the company became Lake Shore Engine Works. In 1938, Service & Supply Company of Iron Mountain merged with Lake Shore Engine Works and the company became known as Lake Shore Engineering Company.

Wayne Oldenburg bought the company in 1987, when it became part of Oldenburg Group Incorporated. J.F. Lehman & Company acquired the company in 2016, returning it to the Lake Shore name. J.F. Lehman & Company also owns Trident Maritime Systems.

Beginning Jan. 1, the company rebranded as Trident Maritime Systems – Heavy Equipment Group.

New signs were to be installed at each facility early this month and integration efforts will continue into this year.

All Lake Shore facilities will remain open, all employees will be retained, and the company “will continue to hire talented people who want to make a difference,” officials said in the release.

The newly named Trident Maritime Systems – Heavy Equipment Group will continue to operate as a designer and manufacturer of “safe, reliable, innovative equipment and solutions to its global maritime and mining customers,” the release states.

Lake Shore’s products are found on every surface ship in the US Navy and include shipboard cranes, anchor handling systems, elevators, ramps, and doors, to name a few.

The company’s Cannon Mining product line includes drill jumbos, roof bolters, ANFO rigs, scalers, and utility trucks for the underground hard rock mining industry. The company employs around 500 people, primarily in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and Northern Wisconsin.

Lake Shore’s current President and CEO, Jessica Frost, credits its “outstanding people, past and present, with the success of the company.”

“This is a tremendous group of people who care about our work and our customers, and it shows,” she said in the release. “As we begin the new year, we are excited to join the Trident family and look forward to many more successful years.”

For more information: see www.lakeshoresystems.com; www.tridentllc.com and; www.jflpartners.com.