Fastenal to ring Monday’s Nasdaq opening bell
About 65 Fastenal employees will be in New York on Monday to the ring the Nasdaq opening bell.
The ceremony includes Fastenal’s celebration of two milestones: It’s been 50 years since the fastener distributor opened for business and 30 years since it hit the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Given the company’s rise from a small fastener shop in Winona, Minn., to a multibillion-dollar company, Fastenal invited every employee with at least 10 years of tenure to enter a drawing to win a trip to New York for the opening bell celebration; that includes a pool of nearly 2,700 employees. The winners of that drawing will be on stage with Dan Florness, Fastenal president and CEO, and Michael Gostomski, one of the company's five co-founders.
"Fastenal has been built by thousands of great people working in every area of our organization," Florness said. "We wanted to shine the spotlight on as many of these leaders as the stage could possibly hold."
Fastenal has been publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock market since its initial public offering in 1987 when 1,000 shares of company stock sold for $9,000. The shares have split seven times since and this past September totaled 96,000 shares worth approximately $4.4 million, generating more than $876,000 in cumulative dividends, the company said.
This will mark the fourth time Fastenal has rung the Nasdaq opening bell. The company previously opened the market in 2007, 2011 and 2014. The company operates more than 2,900 locations, including more than 2,400 branches and approximately 560 onsite-style locations, located primarily in North America, with additional locations in Asia, Europe, Central and South America, and Africa.
