THREADED FASTENERS, INC. EXPANDS WITH ACQUISITION OF CONSTRUCTION FASTENERS OF MERIDIAN MISSISSIPPI

MERIDIAN, MISSISSIPPI (January 28, 2021) Threaded Fasteners, Inc. (TFI), a 100% employee-owned business specializing in the manufacturing, custom packaging, and distribution of steel fasteners, has acquired Construction Fasteners of Meridian, Mississippi. The acquisition joins Construction Fasteners sales and distribution team with Threaded Fasteners, Inc., expanding its’ reach to better serve the greater Mississippi market.

“We have proudly operated a branch in Gulfport, Mississippi since 2006 and the construction industry in Mississippi has grown exponentially in the past 15 years, this acquisition joins two teams that are dedicated to help better serve Mississippi and neighboring states as construction and infrastructure investments continue to increase,” said TFI president Billy Duren. “We are thrilled to add to our presence in Mississippi by joining forces with the outstanding team at Construction Fasteners.”

Construction Fastener Owner and Founder Craig Melancon said “There may be a new name on our building, but the old faces will still be here! This has been such a seamless experience for us. We feel so fortunate in having this opportunity to join a company team that is customer driven, cost efficient, community supportive and especially faith based.”

“When I first met Billy (Duren, TFI President) and Jerrad (Douberly, Senior Vice President) I realized that Threaded Fasteners was more than just a company. I cannot remember anything that had more of an impact on me than the TFI Family Tree,” said Melancon. The TFI Family Tree hangs in the main conference room of the TFI Home Office and contains the names and anniversary dates of every employee owner. “The tree says so much about who TFI is, I knew then that it was the right fit,” said Melancon.

It was important to everyone involved that the acquisition was a cultural fit. Duren said being employee-owned means this is not only a new branch with new employees, but they are going to be new owners of the company.

Duren said, “as an employee-owned company, we place a high value on how a company’s culture fits in with ours before we move forward with an acquisition.” TFI is dedicated to building upon the foundation that Melancon built and cultivating a lasting relationship with the entire Meridian Community.

“This marks the opening of our eleventh location and is a testament to the hard work of our team. We knew it was a great fit from the start and we cannot be happier to have Craig and the entire team at Construction Fasteners become part of the TFI Family,” says Duren.

TFI Reaches 1,000 Days Without a Lost-Time Accident

A Milestone

46 Reasons

Safety Manager Ron Caton on how Semmes Manufacturing was able to reach such a milestone; “we have 46 reasons that we practice and embrace a culture of safety at Semmes Manufacturing. Each of the 46 individuals of our team have families at home waiting for them to come home safely every day.”  He goes on to say “these 46 TFI family members are the reason we accomplished this milestone. Although each of the 46 are individuals we are one team and one family that is committed to our safety program. Not only are we getting the 46 home safely everyday but we are creating a culture where safety is a fundamental aspect of who we are. A good safety program keeps our 46 team members happy, healthy, and ready to create value in and for the people we serve.”

Moving Forward

Our team knows the importance of constant reminders and training on safety. Our manufacturing teams hold weekly safety meetings that follow a 52 week training program developed by our safety team. Along with these reminders, peer mentorship has proven to be a valuable aspect of our safety communications. Each year we hold a safety slogan contest where the winning slogan is proudly displayed in every one of our branch locations. We believe that each member of our team is an active member of our safety communication on a daily basis. It’s important that safety is a fundamental part of the culture here at TFI. 

August, 4, 2020

Threaded Fasteners Dedication to Extraordinary Service

The Threaded Fasteners mission is to create value in and for the people we serve. As a team we are always looking for ways to improve in our mission of creating value for our customers. That is why when we were given the chance to be a flagship vendor for a local customer, we jumped at the opportunity to see what we could do to help them build value. AM/NS Calvert is dedicated to transforming tomorrow with sustainability, quality, and leadership; our teams came together to work to not only streamline their processes, but to build a culture around these values.

What began as a small change to be more organized quickly broadened to a complete revamp of the VMI areas from top to bottom. Our team was given the task to convert the area from open bins to cabinets for all products in the Hot Strip Mill of AM/NS Calvert. When our teams came together, we realized that we’re both dedicated to developing the environment rather than just updating and organizing. When our teams met to see what we could do to create more value in what they were looking to accomplish, we looked at their 6S to Success model. This is a model that the AM/NS Calvert team is looking to standardize in facilities worldwide. Our team set out to find ways to educate on this new model, creating signs for the AM/NS Calvert team.

Planning

We worked closely with the planning team and shared ideas to make this transition beneficial to all the team members of AM/NS Calvert. Our goal was to make this a very orderly and efficient process for production with a decreased loss in “wrench time” for those needing parts in a hurry. By categorizing, labeling, and providing guides to each cabinet’s contents, the approach has successfully allowed for team members to more quickly access the needed parts.

Each day provided new challenges to us in making this the beginning of a new standard. The teamwork between TFI and the AM/NS Calvert Planning department was essential for the successful transition. Both ingenuity and attention to the needs of AM/NS Calvert’s workflow were very important in making the necessary adjustments in our quest for ideal VMI. We worked diligently together from beginning to end to find new and creative ways to make things user friendly as well as cost effective. 

Building Value

AM/NS Calvert is a world class steel mill which desires a world class VMI, and we are pleased to work together to accomplish the very first project in making that happen! AM/NS Calvert is recognized as one of the most advanced steel finishing facilities in the world, and we are excited to be able to join with them in this venture.

We enjoy strengthening relationships through working together on this project, and we look forward to our next endeavor working alongside such a great company with such strong core values and great culture. If you are interested in seeing how Threaded Fasteners VMI teams can transform your inventory system, give us a call today.

– Threaded Fasteners, Inc. Mobile Sales Team

May 14, 2020

Threaded Fasteners is Certified Employee Owned

Threaded Fasteners has become a member of Certified Employee-Owned (Certified EO), the leading certification program for employee-owned companies in America. To become a member of Certified EO, companies must pass a rigorous certification process to demonstrate that their employees
own at least 30% of the business (exclusive of company founders), access to ownership is open to every employee, and the concentration of ownership is
limited. Fewer than 1 in 200 American companies are eligible to join Certified EO.

Certified EO is an organization that strives to create an employee-owned economy. Their certification program is combining the reach of employee-owned companies to create national recognition for this new approach to business. Certified EO works directly with members to help them make their employee ownership more visible to their workers, their clients, and their communities. Certified EO was founded in 2017 by Thomas Dudley and Kramer Sharp. The current membership includes over 175 companies and more than 120,000 employee-owners. To learn more about Certified EO, please visit www.certifiedeo.com.

EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP ADVOCATE PROGRAM

The Threaded Fasteners ESOP Advocate program is a team of employee owners from each branch that will represent and promote employee ownership for their team. Advocates will travel to the home office for an all day training session that will give them the tools and information they need to be outstanding advocates for what it means to be employee owners. Part of their duties will be to provide tools and information to their local team on what employee ownership means to every level of owner. This new program is an exciting new way to grow our teams ownership participation! 

THREADED FASTENERS OWNERSHIP

On April 1, 2007,  employee owners of Threaded Fasteners Inc. purchased the shares of the majority shareholder Frank Martin. In 2012, the purchase was complete when the second owner, Steve Sholtis, sold his stock making TFI 100% Employee Owned.

The Threaded Fasteners Employee Stock Ownership Plan is a trust established for the exclusive benefit of the employees. Shares of stock are owned by the trust, and the trustees manage the trust. Each vested employee is a beneficial shareholder of the trust. The TFI ESOP is set up primarily as a retirement plan. 

February 19, 2020

Mobile’s Uncle Henry receives letter from a lawyer, sparks new friendship with Threaded Fasteners, Inc. as he joins Team Tighten Up

Mobile, Alabama (Feb. 19, 2020) Local radio personalities Randy Kennedy and Uncle Henry entered a battle of wills in the weeks leading to Kennedy’s appearance on the Uncle Henry show on Friday. Both radio stars have “Tightened Up” in various ways, using the phrase in segments on their own stations. New to the iHeart radio team, Kennedy told Uncle Henry of his Tighten Up Sports segments sponsored by Threaded Fasteners, Inc. Undeterred by this, Uncle Henry doubled down on his need to Tighten Up, continuing his segments on air. Due to this, the Threaded Fasteners, Inc. legal team decided to take matters into their own hands.

UNCLE HENRY HOSTS RANDY KENNEDY BEFORE THE LAUNCH OF SPORTS TALK 99.5

Before Randy Kennedy appeared on his new iHeart Station Sports Talk 99.5 on Monday, he appeared on Uncle Henry to talk sports, news, and to air the grievances between the two. Uncle Henry told his listeners that he has been Tightening Up for years after a comment was made to him by a local representative. His listeners want to know how he and they can tighten up in their lives.

RANDY KENNEDY GIVES UNCLE HENRY LETTER FROM TFI CORPORATE COUNSEL

Kennedy, after consulting with the Threaded Fasteners, Inc. team concluded there was no other way to resolve the issue other than legal action. An excerpt from the letter reads; “Threaded Fasteners, Inc. as the sole proprietor of the phrase TIGHTEN UP on local radio marketing claims exclusive ownership to this phrase and all uses of this phrase in perpetuity.” It continues, “Without waiving any of the foregoing rights, Threaded Fasteners, Inc. does hereby grant to you, ‘Uncle Henry’, unlimited privileges to borrow our phrase and the privilege of joining the TIGHTEN UP TEAM.” See Uncle Henry read the full letter here. (Begins at Min 31).

UNCLE HENRY JOINS TEAM TIGHTEN UP

Today Threaded Fasteners, Inc inducts Uncle Henry as an official member of Team Tighten Up. Threaded Fasteners, Inc. Welcomes Uncle Henry to this exclusive group and encourages him to continue Tightening Up as often as he likes.