Moving from New York, Hudson Sees Growth Here
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Lisa Kleinhandler and Cris Young sell screws, bolts and a wide range of fastening and other products through their company, Hudson Fasteners Inc., but envision themselves in another role since relocating the business to the Mahoning Valley six years ago.
“We see ourselves as rust removers,” Kleinhandler, the company’s president and CEO, remarks. “We don’t see that same mentality that was left here when the steel businesses were gone. We see something new happening here. This is the TechBelt. We’re no longer the Rust Belt.”
Hudson Fasteners moved from New York City to Canfield in 2007, and Kleinhandler relocated the company last year to the Youngstown Business Incubator after a year operating in YBI’s Inspire Lab. She is now preparing to take the company her grandfather started in 1946 into new areas as she pursues a carefully crafted business plan with the assistance of the city of Youngstown, which Thursday approved a $50,000 Youngstown Initiative performance grant.
“They want to move their company global,” said T. Sharon Woodberry, city economic development director. The funds will be used for web and software development and to hire five employees the company anticipates requiring for its growth.
Taking a terrestrial business form New York City and moving it to the Valley is “pretty cool,” remarked Jim Cossler, YBI’s CEO. The company now is making “one more leap” and moving that business into cloud computing, he said.
Hudson Fasteners is a distributor of fasteners ranging from the screws used in eyeglasses to construction materials, as well as various storage and electrical products. The company also offers a specialty line of security fastening products it introduced when it launched its first website in 1999, Kleinhandler said.
The business was founded in 1946 on 10th Avenue in New York City near the Hudson River by Kleinhandler’s grandfather, who was succeeded by her father in 1969.
“In 1992, Dad retired and was the father of four girls,” she recalled. “We all had a choice and I made the one to continue the family legacy.” Her parents moved here because her mother had family here, and she subsequently relocated the company to the Valley to be with them. At the time, Hudson wasn’t ready to be part of YBI “but we were determined that this was the place that we would grow our business,” she said.
The company got involved with the Small Business Development Center at Youngstown State University and was selected to participate in the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Emerging Leaders program. Kleinhandler showed the strategic business plan she had crafted through the program to Cossler, who agreed the company was ready to come to YBI.
Kleinhandler sees using technology to improve the customer experience. “When customers are looking for products it’s become difficult to procure fasteners in a way that is expeditious so Hudson Fasteners believes we have a solution to that problem,” she said. She pointed out that the software is being developed locally. “We’re proud that we’re keeping that Youngstown Initiative money right here,” she said.
She also noted that after participating in the Emerging Leaders program Hudson Fasteners has tripled its sales.
In addition to the city funds, Hudson Fastener has secured a $50,000 loan from the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corp. and a $150,000 loan, backed by SBA through Huntington National Bank, for the $256,217 project.
Both company officials are enthusiastic about the infrastructure and assets of their new community, including YSU, SBDC, performing arts centers, the Butler Institute of American Art. “This place is the hidden gem,” Kleinhandler said.
In addition to the funds for Hudson Fasteners, the Board of Control approved contributing $25,000 for the Route 422 corridor study as part of a plan to redevelop the corridor. The plan is being spearheaded by Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. in conjunction with a variety of entities in Mahoning and Trumbull counties, including the city of Girard, Trumbull County Planning commission, Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority and both counties’ land banks.
YNDC is finalizing negotiations with a consultant who will conduct the study and prepare a “multifaceted corridor redevelopment plan” covering approximately three miles of Route 422, said Presley Gillespie, YNDC’s executive director. The effort was spurred by V&M Star’s investments along the corridor, where it is investing about $1 billion dollars.
“It will provide a framework for redevelopment along the corridor with an emphasis on economic development,” Gillespie said.
Copyright 2013 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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