Fastenerblog.net: Birthday Celebrations in the Fastener Industry
Birthday Celebrations in the Fastener Industry
Posted by Traveling Salesman at 1/28/2012 4:42 PM Categories: uncategorized
As I was listening to the last episode of Fully Threaded Radio, their guest, Greg Wiener, of Quickscrews International mentioned that he had been in business 25 years. His company was celebrating its 25th birthday. It made me think back to to an article I had just read in LINK magazine about Trainer & Associates celebrating the company's 30th birthday. Bill Trainer and his group have been out beating the bushes for 30 years now. That is the same age as the North Coast Fastener Association and the group is preparing events to celebrate their 30th year of existence.
Then, I got a Tweet from Global Fastener News that caused me to go to their site and read that Portland Bolt has been in existence for 100 years. The manufacturer of anchor bolts and nonstandard construction fasteners will be enjoying their 100th birthday this year.
The irony is that another domestic manufacturer of fasteners, Chicago Hardware & Fixture is also celebrating its 100th birthday this year. Four generations of the Herbstritt family have been leading the company that manufactures lifting hardware in the Chicago area.
Those are some impressive birthday celebrations. Someone needs to consider baking a big birthday cake for the Vegas show.
These companies (and associations) have weathered some storms over the years most recently, the 2008 & 2009 economic drop. But Portland Bolt and Chicago Hardware also lasted through the Great Depression and several bad business cycles in between. Someone might know this but I would be very curious to know which are the oldest, still running fastener companies in our industry - both manufacturers and distributors. Mike McGuire??? John Wolz??? McNulty?? You guys go me covered on this?
On a side note, Distributor's LINK has been publishing since 1976. Has anyone at LINK thought about making old copies of the magazine available online. Can you imagine all those old pictures of people from the fastener industry that exist in their archives?? I bet I even have hair is some of those issues from the mid 1980's!
Then I got curious and started to wondered how long Fastener Talk, or www.fastenerblog.net has been up and running. Before running on Go Daddy, I had started a blog on Blogspot because....well, I think because it was FREE. I searched back and as best as I could find, below is the first blog I posted. I'm not sure that this site has become what I originally envisioned, but I've had fun a long the way and still enjoy posting. And I very much enjoy having guests share their thoughts on the site. So, here is to 5+ years of fastenerblog.net.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Fastener Industry Future
We have all seen consolidations, companies close their doors. We've seen an influx of fasteners from China and India and many other countries. We have seen online ordering, we see high tech warehousing all across the country. But.....where do we go to discuss the evolution of our industry with other people from our industry?? Welcome to Fastenerblog!
I'm not sure what this site can accomplish. Perhaps distributors across the country can discuss sources for products both domestic and overseas. Maybe someone moving across the country can do some job searching on the site. Maybe a company can discover some marketing insights by linking up with other bloggers. All I know is I have kids under the age of 20 and they all have blogs and "My Space" pages and "Face Book" accounts and I thought....why not us? The bolts and nuts people.
So, welcome the Fastenerblog. Please leave a note and let's see where we go from here!
1/28/2012 5:05 PMAndy Pels wrote:
Whatever this blog has become I like it! And look, you knew about Facebook in 2006. That's a big deal. Thanks for all of the great stuff. Reply to this
1/29/2012 10:34 AM
Traveling Salesman wrote: Funny, I did not think about that. I wonder when Facebook started, though I should remember because I read the book and saw the movie. Perhaps just as interesting is the fact that more kids were on MySpace at that time than Facebook. I think you had to be invited by someone to get a Facebook account. Talk about one site losing market share to another! Reply to this
1/28/2012 8:06 PMMike McGuire wrote:
TS, When I think about the old companies I think about all the ones that have gone out of business in the last 40-50 years. It is a shocking number! But when I think about the Ole' Timers (the ones still working in the business) I think of three of us...Bob Lehman a Rep in Los Angeles, CA, Leo Coar, LINK magazine publiser in Naples, Florida and myself in Scottsdale, AZ also a fastener magazine publisher. I started working week-ends at age seven, 57 years ago! Leo and Bob are in their eighties! If there are any others that I might have missed answer back to the fastenerblog. It will be fun to meet you. Reply to this
1/29/2012 10:40 AM
Traveling Salesman wrote: Ah, I still think of you as a young man! I would throw Bill Robb into that mix of fastener veterans as another guy who has been at this a long time. Nationally, not as many people might know Bill as they do Bob Lehman perhaps because there are many other members of the Lehman family still carrying on the family legacy at Pacific Warehouse. But, Bill Robb has his hands in a lot of fine companies. People would be surprised.
In terms of fastener manufacturers, can you think of any others that have been in business 100+ years? Reply to this
1/29/2012 2:29 PMPam Berry wrote:
Kudos to those businesses celebrating birthdays this year. A good foundation and a great team = a successful history in the fastener industry. 2012 marks the 40th year of business at Advance Components. We are grateful to all the exceptional people who have helped us reach this milestone. Keep up the good work, TS, your blog continues to connect us all. Reply to this
1/29/2012 2:44 PM
Traveling Salesman wrote:
I missed wishing Happy Birthday to one of my guest bloggers?? Shame on me. Happy Birthday to you, Suzie, Gary and the whole crew. Your father created a fine company that you guys continue to grow and keep among the industry leaders. And, I cannot mention Advance without paying my respects to one of the finest (and one of my favorite) people in the fastener industry, Paula Sens. Happy 40th. Reply to this
1/29/2012 10:11 PM
Lone Star wrote:
Funny you mentioned Paula Sens. Great fastener woman. Almost what you would call a pioneer. A strong woman in strong industry. I still miss her. WIFI ought to acknowledge accomplishments of some of the women who were trailblazers and I cannot think of many more deserving than Paula. Reply to this
1/30/2012 12:38 AMEric wrote:
We'd be glad to showcase stories like Paula's on Fully Threaded Radio. Don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to put something together.
1/30/2012 1:04 PMPam Berry wrote:
Kudos to those businesses celebrating birthdays this year. A good foundation and a great team = a successful history in the fastener industry. 2012 marks the 40th year of business at Advance Components. We are grateful to all the exceptional people who have helped us reach this milestone. Keep up the good work, TS, your blog continues to connect us all. Reply to this
1/30/2012 4:03 PMJim Sullivan wrote: Thank you very much for including Chicago Hardware & Fixture Company, and mentioning our 100 year anniversary. We are truly proud of this milestone.
The exciting part of this is that we are still growing and expanding. We have recently made several equipment acquisitions both in our forging operation and wire forming facilities, in an effort to not only keep up with demand, but to also enable us to develop additional items in our product lines to keep up with ever changing demands.
While we know that manufacturing in the USA has been drastically affected over the years, we look upon this anniversary as an incentive to look forward, and reiterate the importance of manufacturing in our country. Thanks again, for announcing these milestones, and let’s continue to promote that making things in America can be done, and is a good thing.
2/10/2012 5:52 PMLarry Kelly wrote: Happy Birthday and Congratulations to all the companies mentioned in the Traveling Salesman post. It is quite an accomplishment to be in business as long these companies have.
I would like to throw another name in the hat for consideration of companies with a long history. The Ohio Nut & Bolt Company has been in business since 1905. That’s 107 years of manufacturing from the same building located in Berea, OH. From the early days of manufacturing bicycles chains to supplying weld screws for the Model A Ford to the Employee Owned Company they are today. The Ohio Nut and Bolt Company has seen it all.
So let’s celebrate the history of all these companies and crack open an ice cold Old Rusty Bolt. Reply to this
2/11/2012 10:18 AM
Traveling Salesman wrote: OK, so far Ohio Nut & Bolt is the oldest domestic fastener manufacturer I have heard about. Anyone out there know anyone older than that?
Happy belated birthday to Ohio Nut & Bolt and the whole Buckeye Fastener family! Reply to this
Whatever this blog has become I like it! And look, you knew about Facebook in 2006. That's a big deal.
Thanks for all of the great stuff.
Reply to this
Funny, I did not think about that. I wonder when Facebook started, though I should remember because I read the book and saw the movie. Perhaps just as interesting is the fact that more kids were on MySpace at that time than Facebook. I think you had to be invited by someone to get a Facebook account. Talk about one site losing market share to another!
Reply to this
TS,
When I think about the old companies I think about all the ones that have gone out of business in the last 40-50 years. It is a shocking number! But when I think about the Ole' Timers (the ones still working in the business) I think of three of us...Bob Lehman a Rep in Los Angeles, CA, Leo Coar, LINK magazine publiser in Naples, Florida and myself in Scottsdale, AZ also a fastener magazine publisher. I started working week-ends at age seven, 57 years ago! Leo and Bob are in their eighties! If there are any others that I might have missed answer back to the fastenerblog. It will be fun to meet you.
Reply to this
Ah, I still think of you as a young man! I would throw Bill Robb into that mix of fastener veterans as another guy who has been at this a long time. Nationally, not as many people might know Bill as they do Bob Lehman perhaps because there are many other members of the Lehman family still carrying on the family legacy at Pacific Warehouse. But, Bill Robb has his hands in a lot of fine companies. People would be surprised.
In terms of fastener manufacturers, can you think of any others that have been in business 100+ years?
Reply to this
Leo,
If you have these reprints, I’m sure everyone would love to see them.
Denny
Reply to this
Kudos to those businesses celebrating birthdays this year. A good foundation and a great team = a successful history in the fastener industry. 2012 marks the 40th year of business at Advance Components. We are grateful to all the exceptional people who have helped us reach this milestone. Keep up the good work, TS, your blog continues to connect us all.
Reply to this
I missed wishing Happy Birthday to one of my guest bloggers?? Shame on me. Happy Birthday to you, Suzie, Gary and the whole crew. Your father created a fine company that you guys continue to grow and keep among the industry leaders. And, I cannot mention Advance without paying my respects to one of the finest (and one of my favorite) people in the fastener industry, Paula Sens. Happy 40th.
Reply to this
Funny you mentioned Paula Sens. Great fastener woman. Almost what you would call a pioneer. A strong woman in strong industry. I still miss her. WIFI ought to acknowledge accomplishments of some of the women who were trailblazers and I cannot think of many more deserving than Paula.
Reply to this
We'd be glad to showcase stories like Paula's on Fully Threaded Radio. Don't hesitate to reach out if you'd like to put something together.
Great topic TS!
Eric
Reply to this
Kudos to those businesses celebrating birthdays this year. A good foundation and a great team = a successful history in the fastener industry. 2012 marks the 40th year of business at Advance Components. We are grateful to all the exceptional people who have helped us reach this milestone. Keep up the good work, TS, your blog continues to connect us all.
Reply to this
Thank you very much for including Chicago Hardware & Fixture Company, and mentioning our 100 year anniversary. We are truly proud of this milestone.
The exciting part of this is that we are still growing and expanding. We have recently made several equipment acquisitions both in our forging operation and wire forming facilities, in an effort to not only keep up with demand, but to also enable us to develop additional items in our product lines to keep up with ever changing demands.
While we know that manufacturing in the USA has been drastically affected over the years, we look upon this anniversary as an incentive to look forward, and reiterate the importance of manufacturing in our country. Thanks again, for announcing these milestones, and let’s continue to promote that making things in America can be done, and is a good thing.
Jim Sullivan
National Sales Manager
Chicago Hardware & Fixture Company
www.chicagohardware.com
Reply to this
Happy Birthday and Congratulations to all the companies mentioned in the Traveling Salesman post. It is quite an accomplishment to be in business as long these companies have.
I would like to throw another name in the hat for consideration of companies with a long history. The Ohio Nut & Bolt Company has been in business since 1905. That’s 107 years of manufacturing from the same building located in Berea, OH. From the early days of manufacturing bicycles chains to supplying weld screws for the Model A Ford to the Employee Owned Company they are today. The Ohio Nut and Bolt Company has seen it all.
So let’s celebrate the history of all these companies and crack open an ice cold Old Rusty Bolt.
Reply to this
OK, so far Ohio Nut & Bolt is the oldest domestic fastener manufacturer I have heard about. Anyone out there know anyone older than that?
Happy belated birthday to Ohio Nut & Bolt and the whole Buckeye Fastener family!
Reply to this