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TS:   OK, first thing first…where did the name Jay-Cee come from?

AW:  The name Jay-Cee Sales came from my great grandfather Jack Clinton.

TS:  Tell us more about the company history.

AW:  Jay-Cee Sales was started in 1948 by Jack Clinton in Detroit, Michigan on Grand River. The store began as an Army/Navy supply store as well as other basic goods. Soon after the business opened, Jack was joined by his son Louis Clinton.
 
Jack had a brother-in-law who was in the scrap/surplus business in Texas. He came across a surplus of various goods and fasteners, which included rivets and shipped them up to Jack. As soon as he received the shipment, he was able to sell them in no time.  As business increased, Jack and Louis needed to move to a larger location with a warehouse to store their increasing inventory. In the mid 1950’s the company moved to Ferry Park in Detroit.
 
In the coming years business continued to grow. In 1969 Louis’s son-in-law, Cary Weitzman joined the company.  Shortly thereafter, Louis’s son Michael Clinton joined the company in 1972. In 1973 Jay-Cee Sales decided to divest all of their threaded products and concentrate on rivets.  Again, Jay-Cee Sales out grew its building and relocated to Farmington, Michigan in July 1, 1974.
 
Sadly, Jack Clinton passed away in 1980 at the age of 83. On October 20, 1980, Jay-Cee Sales was incorporated and became Jay-Cee Sales & Rivet Inc. Business thrived. The company added an addition to the warehouse in 1984 to a total of 40,000 sq. ft.
 
Unexpectedly,  Jay-Cee Sales & Rivet was dealt a huge blow when Louis Clinton passed away in 1993 at the age of 66.
 
In the years that followed, Jay-Cee Sales & Rivet was joined by its 4^thgeneration when Greg Weitzman (1994), Allan Weitzman (1998), Jason Clinton (2003), and Bryan Clinton (2003) entered into the family business. 

TS:   Most fastener people know you guys as the rivet experts.  You carry just about every style of rivet.  How did your company come to focus on that niche?

AW:  When Jay-Cee began selling fasteners, they realized the rivet market at the time, was a lot less competitive and they knew the rivet line inside and out. Even today other fastener houses express frustration as to their lack of knowledge when it comes to rivets. Between the 8 salesmen, we have a combined 185 years of rivet sales. We pride ourselves in being the source of knowledge when it comes to rivets.

TS:   And then, after getting out of the bolts and nuts business, you and your brother circle back around and get right back into the nuts, bolts, screws and other fasteners.

AW:  Yeah, that’s true.  In 2015 Greg and I established a separate company, Value Fastener, LLC. Value Fastener was designed to be an online based company, selling fasteners that did not compete with Jay-Cee Sales like screws, nuts, and bolts. The company prospered over the next few years, highlighting the Value Fastener brand throughout various industries. Expansion was on the horizon and the we determined that it might be best to be acquired by Jay-Cee Sales, which, in 2019 purchased Value Fastener as a Jay-Cee Sales product line.
 
Value Fastener adds over 32,000 parts, with 4 shipping locations throughout the US and specializes in bulk packaging.  Together the merger created a true fastener house that boasts one of the largest inventories of rivets and now a complete line of threaded fasteners all under one roof. Rivets can be ordered online at www.rivetsonline.com and Value Fastener host their own e-commerce store at www.valuefastener.com 

TS:  From our discussions I can tell your company is very customer service focused.  It is important to you that you treat small customers just the same as you would handle large customers.  Share with me your philosophy on customer service.

AW:  Fasteners are such a commodity purchase. It’s typically one of the least expensive purchases in a production buy. We understand that and realize the purchaser, on the other end wants to get their fasteners purchased and move on to their more complex purchases. Our goal is to reply to rfqs, emails/faxes within an hour or less for standard parts. With 8 salesmen on staff, this is easily completed. Phone calls are also answered right away. The sales team members at Jay-Cee Sales are all very personable and were put into their positions for their people skills. We have a lot of customer service people for the size of our company but it’s important that the level of service we offer stands out. That $25 customer is just as valued as the $250,000 customer. They both deserve our time, attention, and customer service.

TS:  You have an impressive online presence.  And I know you have worked hard on your e-commerce business.  Have you had a lot of success with e-commerce?

AW:  We had an outside company produce our ecommerce sites (www.rivetsonline.com) and (www.ValueFastener.com) but we had a very influential hand in building it and we maintain 95% of it. We understand the way our customers shop, so having a hand in the process, it was designed by fastener people who understand how fastener customers shop. Not just by some website developer who doesn’t understand the industry. It has been successful, but nothing can compete with 2 people communicating over the phone or in person. It’s the only way to develop and maintain relationships.

TS:  Jay-Cee has a lot of family involved in the business.  That can be a wonderful thing and it can also present challenges.  How has it gone for your company?

AW:  Currently the business is run by me, Greg Weitzman, Jason Clinton and Bryan Clinton. The four of us get along well and we all have our individual roles. We’re 4^th generation and the business means a lot to us. It’s not just a place of employment. It’s a legacy and we’re very excited and hopeful that we’ll have a 5^th generation family member in here one day. The company has 17 employees. We all know each other’s husbands, wives and children. Everyone is family!

The biggest challenge for me and Greg was losing our father, Cary Weitzman, this past March. When someone special to you passes away, work is helpful to get your mind off of things and give yourself a mental break. But for us coming to work did the exact opposite.  Every day is a reminder he’s not with us anymore. His office is still here. His desk is just the way he left it. His name is still on the payroll form. As time goes on those things trigger nice memories and funny stories. The phone calls, letters and emails about my dad still continue today. Its great hearing from customers and vendors about my dad and reinforces how lucky we are to have a family business with such great people to conduct business with.

TS:  I met your dad several times and I too was a “son of” so I feel truly sorry for you and Greg.  And as we both know, the best thing we can do for ourselves and in honor of those whose large shoes we try to fill is to keep on keeping on and carry on the legacy.  With that in mind what do the next few years look like for Jay-Cee Sales?

AW:  We’ve had strong growth over the last few years and we expect that to continue. With the new product lines we have added with Value Fasteners we’re putting some heavy focus on these lines.   It has been a good venture thus far. We’re planning on hiring an outside salesperson after the first of the year. We’ve always been an “inside” sales company and this new approach is exciting and we’re eager to see what new opportunities open for us.

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I recently stumbled on an article that I am re-posting below. I was casually reading this article, found it interesting, and then right near the end, the author mentioned Rock Valley College which is the college that offers classes on cold heading. Representatives from Rock Valley College participated in the Fastener Coalition’s Fastener Summit a couple years ago. The author of this article, Ernie Redfern, lives in Rockford, Illinois which a city with a rich fastener history. I wrote to Ernie asking if I could reprint the article and his response was also very interesting:

“No problem at all.  I think it is EXTREMELY important that we reinforce the issue with all-electric.   I believe the Big 3 in Detroit, not really known for the far thinking, are teetering on becoming extinct.  I do not say that without sadness.  This country was a big leader in the internal combustible engine (ICE) world.  Our problem is we still think we are the leader in the world of automobile markets.  China is the clear leader, surpassing us two years ago, and if you review the projections, in a decade will be double the size of the U.S. market.  India is also screaming forward – we may find ourselves third on the list.

Although combating climate change is a big factor in the push for all-electric vehicles, dependence on foreign oil is another.  The rise in the number of car owners in China and India, the two most populated countries, means those countries must spend more foreign currencies on oil imports while the increased petrol vehicles contribute to an already dismal pollution problem.  Electricity is viewed as an energy source that can be domestically produced while combating climate.

Tesla has projected that in 2 years their battery will go from a 400,000 mile life today to a 1,000,000 mile life.  Go to the GM web site on the Bolt EV https://www.chevrolet.com/electric/bolt-ev-electric-car – the only maintenance needed is rotating tires every 7,500 miles, replacing cabin air filter every 22,500 miles and periodically checking the brakes.   Somehow Tesla can get 370 miles while GM ekes out 238 on a full charge. “

And, with that introduction, here is the article from Ernie Redfern:

As the longest United Auto Workers’ strike in 50 years against General Motors winds down, the underlying tensions will remain. Over the next few years, GM plans 20 new electric models, mostly in China, funded in part by U.S. plant closures and other cost-saving measures so that GM can get the $6 billion it needs per year to bring these cars to market.

From the outside, it may seem a cruel irony that U.S. workers will bear a disproportionate penalty for GM’s ambitions in China. But it’s really about the fight for survival of the U.S. automobile industry. In the next generation of automotive transportation – the all-electric vehicle – the U.S. must remain relevant.

Americans’ love affair with the internal combustion engine might be the undoing of our domestic automobile manufacturers. I told a piston-head friend that gas-powered vehicles are taking the elephant walk into the graveyard. His reaction was fast and furious: “I will NEVER get in, or drive, an electric vehicle!”

Volkswagen Group, the world’s largest auto manufacturer, projects that by 2040, all-electric cars will make up 70 percent of new cars sold in Europe and 60 percent of new cars sold in the United States.   

In March 2019, all-electric cars made up 60 percent of new sales in Norway, which is banning gas automobiles by 2025. Denmark, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Netherlands and Sweden have targeted 2030 for the end of new sales of petrol vehicles (which include those with diesel engines). By 2040, that ban would extend to France and the United Kingdom.

China, by far the largest auto market in the world, wants 85 percent of its vehicles to be all-electric by 2040. To reach this target, that government is restricting the number of new petrol vehicles that can be registered.

Germany, about the size of Montana, has committed to installing 1 million charging stations by 2030 with 100,000 being installed in 2020. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates 68,800 stations in this country today.

The State of Illinois’s status? Starting in January 1, 2020, owners of all-electric vehicles must pay an annual fee of $100 in addition to standard registration fees. The Illinois Citizens Utility Board projects that in 10 years we could have as many as 2.2 million all-electric vehicles (30% of all passenger vehicles) registered if we get serious about climate change.

If the U.S. and Illinois are behind, Rockford is in the stone age. There are only 14 public charging stations within a 10-mile radius of downtown Rockford – not one of them on the west side of the Rock River.  The City of Rockford, unlike the State of Illinois, has no target on converting part of their fleet of vehicles to either all-electric or hybrid. A check with city officials shows that Rockford has no plan on how to generate revenue from the emergence of all-electric vehicles. And no guidelines are in place for infrastructure investments related to electric vehicles. An example is putting in new city sidewalks without conduit that would allow the city to easily install charging stations later.  

As we go all-electric, it is estimated that, worldwide, we eventually will lose 3,000,000 automobile industry jobs. The all-electric vehicle requires 30 percent fewer parts. A UAW study projects they will lose 35,000 jobs in the next few years in the shift to all-electric.

If in 20 years we go to 60 percent all-electric vehicles in the United States, we have concerns to address now:

• Will our aging electric distribution system be able to meet this new power drain?
• A lot of corner gas stations/oil-change centers are going to close. What type of environmental cleanup will be needed and what repurposing is possible?
• With limited gas tax support, how will road improvements be funded in the long run?
• Where are the best places for public charging stations?
• Can we make Rock Valley College a national leader in this technology?

A ship has sailed with the rest of the world on it, and here we are standing on the docks with our gas can in hand. Let’s wake up and protect our place in the automotive world. Even Harley Davidson is going electric.

Ernie Redfern is a Rockford resident.