Aeromet's history of innovation and family-owned quality began humbly in 1971. Fred Wahlberg and Duane Balag were working together as machinists, when they eventually decided to start their own company. With an investment of $5000, they opened a 1,250 square foot stall in Lansing, Illinois, and were machining custom jobs and doing repair work for local steel mills, in between their normal shifts. They hired their first employee, bought bigger equipment, and moved to Griffith, Indiana in 1975.
Continuing their work for the steel industry, they were consistently doing repairs on mandrel drums, gaining expertise, identifying good and bad design, and designing parts around what didn't work. In this way, Aeromet gained its reputation as the "Mandrel drum specialist," and we are still known as being the best. Fred's son Drew grew up around the business and earned a degree in Engineering. He is now our Engineering Director and part owner. Fred's nephew Neil Wahlberg was originally hired to sweep the floors and unload trucks while in college, and officially joined the company in 1997, and is now the Sales/Marketing Manager. We hired more employees, bought more equipment, gained more expertise, and grew to be the leaders we are today. We became ISO certified in 1998.
Today we are still the Mandrel experts, as well as providing innovative solutions to complex equipment problems, and performing state-of-the-art machining. And while we have certainly outgrown our humble roots, we have never forgotten them. We continue this tradition of family-ownership and pride in our work, and look forward to the future of our business.
Please feel free to visit our website at www.aerometindustries.com, and contact us with any questions.