TruFast celebrates 40 years of fasteners and building products
Altenloh, Brinck & Co. US, Inc. (ABC), the manufacturer of SPAX engineered fasteners, is celebrating the 40th anniversary of the TruFast brand in 2021.
The story of TruFast’s early days can be found in founder Duane Spangler’s book, The Journey. Its pages make clear the rich community relationships and connections that contributed to TruFast’s initial successes and growth as a provider of high-quality fastening solutions for the commercial roofing industry. As the company grew, “Trusted Connections” became both its mantra and philosophy of doing business.
Even after TruFast’s 2005 acquisition by German-based Altenloh, Brinck & Co., that family-focused culture of trusted connections continues to be a hallmark of both the TruFast brand and parent company ABC – as well as its other, complementary brands, SPAX for the construction market and the TruFast brand for exterior building envelopes and facades.
The ABC acquisition of TruFast resulted in an immediate and ongoing infusion of capital and resources that boosted the company’s growth and expansion while leaving its family-owned, people-focused culture intact.
ABC’s investments made possible a 33,000-square foot expansion and modernization of the Bryan, Ohio manufacturing facility in 2011 as well as a 50,000-square-foot expansion to its state-of-the-art heat treat facility in Pioneer, Ohio.
“From the beginning, TruFast was an excellent fit for our company because of similar brand traits: customer focus, persistence, high quality and reliability of both our products and people,” said Nikolas Dicke, CEO of ABC and a leader at the parent company, Altenloh, Brinck & Co. Group.
Jim Winn, president of the SPAX brand, shared his take on how the TruFast brand origins led to the current successes of the ABC family of brands, including SPAX.
“TruFast is the foundation that the SPAX brand was built on,” Winn said. “The family environment at our Bryan, Ohio manufacturing and office facility mean that we all take care of each other – and never has that been more evident than during the global pandemic of 2020. We make high quality, highly engineered products but the quality and longevity of our people are what set this company and its brands apart the most.”
The future is bright for ABC and its family of brands. In the words of Jason Beals, president of the TruFast brand, “The growth of TruFast ABC and the SPAX brand is tremendous. We have tripled in size, added more than 200 jobs, acquired additional brands such as RodenHouse and others, and significantly expanded our square footage.
Beals also said that the company will make and sell more than one bill screws in 2021.
“At TruFast, in our early days, $10 million would have been a great year,” Beals said. “Today, ABC U.S. sees $10 million in a month! Even during the current global health crisis, we keep growing. While commercial roofing slowed down, the SPAX construction and DIY markets kept us growing.”
The TruFast brand has accomplished a lot in 40 years, from its origins in the farm fields of rural Ohio to its acquisition by the ABC Group in Germany. Even while tripling in size, the company has stayed true to its mission: to grow lasting relationships through innovative fastening solutions.