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I recently attended an out of town wedding for a young lady who grew up in my home town of Strongsville.  When I was entering the church I pointed out to my wife, “there’s the mayor of our town”.  I quickly recalled that the father of the bride worked for the city and consequently he invited his “boss” to attend.  Later, at the wedding reception, I was introduced to the mayor as a citizen of Strongsville and also as a small business owner there.  The mayor asked about my occupation and I told him I worked in the greatest industry known to mankind – the fastener industry.

Before he became our long tenured mayor, Tom Perciak was President of a local bank.  He came to the office with a very strong business background that has served our city very well and he will most likely be reelected until such time as he decides he no longer chooses to run for office.  So, did I talk about the city, his banking background, or something else to do with the city??  No sir!  Our conversation went like this:

“Mayor, in my industry, three of the country’s largest importers of fasteners are Brighton Best, Stelfast and XL Screw.  Across the country and throughout the industry, those are three of the biggest industry names and all three of them are located within our city limits.  Also, I know that Applied MSS (former Parts Associates & UZ Engineered Products) is moving its headquarters to Strongsville by the end of this year.  Interestingly, Strongsville has become a landing spot for several top companies from my industry. ” I also mentioned that there was going to be a national trade show taking place in downtown Cleveland in April, 2018, Fastener Fair USA.   The mayor responded by asking for my phone and email and asked me if I would join him and the city’s Director of Economic Development for lunch.  He said he wanted to learn some more about our industry.  We went to lunch on Friday, September 1.

Our city is a nice community and a great place to raise a family.  We have a mall, loads of great restaurants, plenty of shopping, access to the Cuyahoga Country Metropark system, a Cleveland Clinic Hospital branch location and countless other conveniences including a terrific recreation center.  But the mayor and his Economic Development team know what makes the city’s engine run – busineses. Manufacturers, distributors and all businesses in between.  Strongsville sits at the cross section of Interstate 71 (running north & south) and the Ohio Turnpike (running east & west), both highways that extend well beyond Ohio into several other states . The city has several business parks.  There are a couple screw machine operations, a manufacturer of ceramics, a manufacturer of truck latches and several other manufactures.  And, Strongsville also happens to be the home base, and international headquarters of the R.L. English Co.

With a combination of industry and civic pride, I frequently see trucks roll through town with logos from fastener distributors located throughout Northeast Ohio.  They are all picking up parts from the above mentioned importers located in town.   I enjoy seeing the fastener trucks rolling in and out of Strongsville .  If you are a fastener supplier looking to locate a warehouse somewhere in Northeast Ohio, you should take a look at Strongsville.  Your customers are already driving into the area to pick up other parts.

Lunch with the mayor was great.  He has done a terrific job in office and it was a very enlightening opportunity to sit down and hear firsthand about some of the things going on in my hometown.  And I give him credit for taking an interest in the fastener industry and trying to find out a little bit more about it.  He appreciates those business that have located here and recognizes the importance of retaining them.  Who knows, maybe you’ll meet him or his economic director walking around Fastener Fair USA in April.