Cardinal Fastener Bolts To Clean Energy Profit

BEDFORD HEIGHTS, OH – More than two years ago, when the Cardinal Fastener & Specialty Company was still focused on manufacturing large-diameter, high-tensile strength bolts for construction projects and heavy equipment makers, an order arrived from Iowa. The buyer asked for specialty fasteners and they needed them in a hurry.

Turns out the buyer was a wind turbine manufacturer. Cardinal Fastener’s ability to quickly fill the order helped the company open a new market in the American clean energy sector that is steadily expanding.

The company now employs 65 people, 15 more than in 2007. In the last two years Cardinal Fastener manufactured half a million parts for the wind industry, all domestically produced from made in America materials. It expects to double that number this year. Sales to the clean energy sector accounted for 15 percent of the company’s $10 million in annual revenue in 2008.

John Grabner, the Cardinal Fastener president, said he expects business to be strong enough in 2009 to add 30 to 40 more employees, and revenue could grow to $40 million annually in 2010, half of it from sales to clean energy companies.

For More Information John Grabner President Cardinal Fastener and Specialty Company 5185 Richmond Road Bedford Heights, OH 44146 Phone: 216-831-3800 Email: johng@cardinalfastener.com Make It In America Executive Summary Make It In America Report The New Apollo Program Signature Stories

A Presidential Visit
The company’s performance has attracted prominent admirers. Last December, during a conference in Cleveland on Ohio’s potential to manufacture parts and equipment for the clean energy industry, Governor Ted Strickland commended Cardinal Fastener for its nimble ability to recognize and fill a new market.

In January 2009, just four days before his inauguration, President-elect Barack Obama showed up at the company’s 95,000-square foot plant in Bedford Heights, a Cleveland suburb. The new president viewed the company as an apt example to promote the administration’s nearly $800 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and especially the roughly $100 billion the recovery proposal devoted to investment in clean energy development and green-collar job generation.

“If anybody doubts that we can dig ourselves out of this hole, I invite them here to Ohio and look what you’ve done at Cardinal Fastener,” President Obama said. “It hasn’t been easy here either. It hasn’t been without risk. In an economy that’s losing jobs, we’re creating them. They’re the kind of jobs that don’t just support families and sustain communities — but also help transform our economy, spurring growth not just today, but for decades to come.”

Good Green-Collar Jobs
Indeed, Cardinal Fastener is one of 90 companies in Ohio’s clean energy industry supply chain, according to Governor Strickland. In May 2008, Governor Strickland signed Ohio’s renewable energy standard to encourage more manufacturers to get involved. The new law requires Ohio utilities to develop 12.5 percent of their power from wind, sun, and other renewable sources by 2025, and the governor is actively recruiting a wind turbine manufacturer to his state.

ARRA funds that were distributed in 2009 to renewable energy producers are beginning to trickle down to clean energy suppliers like Cardinal Fastener. As ARRA cash makes its way to energy producers who are building new wind farms, these producers will purchase wind turbines from turbine manufacturers, and the manufacturers will in turn purchase bolts from Cardinal.

“As project developers begin to purchase more turbines, the domino effect on the U.S. supply chain begins,” said Jeff Grabner, the wind product manager at Cardinal. “There are hundreds of suppliers in the U.S. that are benefitting from ARRA, and Cardinal looks forward to seeing more farms being commissioned and the supply chain for the turbine industry being localized here in the U.S.”

Ohio’s Governor Strickland, like other Midwest governors, recognizes that clean energy manufacturing holds the promise of generating good green-collar jobs. Cardinal Fastener’s diverse workforce - 80 percent minority and 35 percent women - earns competitive wages of $15 to $19 per hour plus performance bonuses. The living wage for Bedford Heights, Ohio is $8.10 per hour for one adult or $12.50 an hour for two adults. Grabner put it this way: “We are the glue that holds it all together.”