Added on December 9, 2013 News News

Local Manufacturer CEI Wins 2013 SPARK FastTrack Award

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Have you seen the new Chevrolet dealership in Chelsea? Or, noticed the new Bahna Wrestling Center on the University of Michigan’s athletic campus? The facades on both of these buildings are clad with a product made right here in Manchester by CEI Composite Materials. CEI Composite Materials designs and manufactures architectural metal panels and entry elements (iconic structures in front of buildings with logos on them, for example, big blue towers in front of the Chevrolet dealership). And CEI is doing it so well, they just won an award.

CEI has won the 2013 Ann Arbor SPARK FastTrack award. FastTrack awards are presented to companies in our region with consistent records of growth. Award winners are required to have revenue of at least $100,000 in 2009 with an annual growth of 20 percent for the following three years. “To grow a business is an amazing accomplishment, but to grow it at a rate of 20 percent or more is an achievement worthy of recognition and celebration” said Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK president and CEO. “The 2013 FastTrack award winners represent the wide range of businesses that are thriving in the Ann Arbor region and are creating a diverse, stable platform for prosperity here.”

In 2011 and 2012 CEI won outstanding achievement awards from ALCOA, their sheet metal provider. In reality, if CEI had applied for the FastTrack award, they would have won it in 2011 and 2012 as well. CEI has seen 30-40 percent growth every single year they have been in business. “We handle ourselves as a large company, think big to be big” said Jeff.

The company was started in 2008 by business partners Jeff Henry and Jason Sherrill in Jason’s 40 X 80 pole barn just outside of Dexter. The partners knew each other from working in construction around metro Detroit. Jeff worked for a large metro Detroit residential and commercial builder and Jason had his own residential building company. When the construction industry in Michigan fell apart, Jeff took a job with a composite metal panel manufacture in the Detroit area and ended up heading their entire project management department. Jason came on board later with the same company as a project manager. They both saw how much opportunity there was in this niche market and decided to “step out on their own”. With one full time designer, two part time fabricators plus Jeff and Jason they began fabricating the metal panels by hand in Jason’s pole barn.

In 2009 while working out of Jason’s pole barn and dreaming of getting the CNC machine and other equipment they really needed to grow, they were awarded a million dollar contract for the “Cougar Plex”, a huge athletic facility at Illinois Central College. “When we got that job there was no way in hell we could deliver that job with what we had” said Jeff. It was time for CEI to relocate into a bigger space.

They shopped for 12 months all over southeast Michigan trying to find the right location. In addition to the actual space, they were taking into consideration the people they currently had working for them and accessibility to the interstate. Their realtor pointed them to the former Manchester Tool and Die building in Manchester. Because CEI was such a new company, they could not get a loan. “Size-wise the building was great, and the price was right” said Jeff, also the Fielders “were gracious enough to sell the building on a land contract”

New CNC machine

So, in 2010, CEI purchased the 15,000 square foot building and moved to Manchester. The pieces started to fall into place. They were able to establish a line of credit and buy a CNC machine, their “flagship piece of equipment.” And by the time they needed to start fabrication for the Cougar Plex, they had everything they needed.

They were awarded that job their second full year in business. “From there our growth has been exponential” said Jeff. CEI now has over thirty employees including design engineers, estimators, project managers, administration, and shop fabricators. To date, the Cougar Plex is one of the largest jobs they have done. Recently, CEI has leased another 3,000 square feet a block away for building the entry elements.

ICC's Cougar Plex

Jeff says “We like the idea of being part of a smaller community and actually have an impact. Manchester is a proud city, when the automotive industry went down the tubes I know Manchester took a hit, but it seems like everybody just picked themselves up by their boot straps and forged ahead. To see that kind of attitude toward things was inspiring. Our clients fly in from all over the country and they always have great things to say about this town, they’re really impressed.”

The biggest concern Jeff had about moving to Manchester was the talent pool, but as well as Jackson, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Lansing, and Adrian, they have found good talent right here in Manchester. CEI has been able to hire qualified people from the area that no longer want to commute to Metro Detroit for work.

Another benefit to locating in Manchester that Jeff discovered was that he was able to deal with issues without delay. “When we really got serious about this building we sat down with Jeff Wallace, the Village Manager, and talked about abatements and zoning. It was just amazing how we were able to make a phone call and within 48 hours we were able to sit down with the village manager and talk specifically about our needs. Then within two or three days it was in front of the board for approval. The turnaround time was just tremendous!” In a small town “if you have a problem you can pick up the phone and call somebody and be able to communicate directly with them without any red tape. You can get right to the crux of the issue and get it solved without delay”.

CEI not only boosts the tax base but they try to do as much business locally as they can. When entertaining clients they take them to the restaurants right here in town and they have their business cards printed locally. They also have been generous donors to community groups and projects including The Manchester Athletic Boosters, Manchester Senior Citizens, Washtenaw County Sheriff, and the Kirk Park renovation project. “We’re vested here” says Jeff.

The company’s award-winning growth is partially due to the fact that they have a very unique and innovative product. A composite metal panel is fairly new to the construction industry. Composite panels consist of two sheets of corrosion resistant metal (zinc, copper, stainless steel and titanium) which are permanently bonded to an extruded thermoplastic / polyethylene core. This panel gives you the flatness and rigidity of thicker piece of metal at a fraction of the weight, therefore there is less load on the building and because the metal is painted from a coil stock prior to bonding it you get a very consistent color and finish. ALCOA is their composite metal sheet provider and once CEI has the sheet material in their shop they can cut, bend and shape it into just about anything a customer might want.

In addition, composite metal panels are an architecturally certified “green” product that meets LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ) and recycled content requirements. It is one component of building a sustainable building.

An example of Composite Metal Panels

Everything that CEI fabricates is custom built for each building. Once the shell of the building is up CEI sends someone out to take precise measurements (survey) of the building and then takes that information back to the shop where fabrication begins. Once the panels are fabricated they are shipped to the job site and installed using one of CEI’s architecturally approved proprietary attachment systems. On an average job (5,000 – 10,000 square feet of wall space) that process can take 10 – 12 weeks.

The entry units CEI produces are entirely manufactured in house, including structural steel and light gauge framing. They are clad with panels, shipped to the job site in three or four pieces, and then set in place.

CEI does work all over the United States and last year worked in over 30 states from California to Maine and as far south as Texas and southern Florida. One of the biggest general contractor in the United States, Clark Construction from Maryland is one of CEI’s clients. For more information on CEI Composite Materials, see their website at http://www.ceicomposites.com/