Riverside Mfg. Inc. a "Prime Favorite"

Located in Elk River, Riverside Mfg. Inc. is a certified small, disadvantaged business that is Veteran and minority-owned. When president Sheldon Mayer founded the company in 1997, after 4 years in the U.S. Navy, he probably didn’t envision that in just 8 years he would be selling precision machined parts into most of the major defense prime contractors – and would be recognized as "Supplier of the Year" for Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics, and nominated for the same distinction by Northrup Grumman this year.

According to Mic Weishaar, Riverside’s National Sales Manager, the company’s competitive separation is about being among the best and fastest in the machining of all sorts of metals that go into high-tech products. "Material removal is what it’s all about," said Weishaar. "We can take a solid block of raw material and bring it to near-net shape quickly, so structurally you get a better part."

When the company turned to more direct sales into the military in 2000, Riverside had just a handful of employees and $700,000 in sales. Aggressive purchases of high-end CNC (computer numeric control) machining equipment, ISO 9001 certification and marketing to major prime defense contractors soon ensued. The resulting steady growth over five years has led to 15 highly skilled machinists and engineers, and approximately $4.5 million in revenue expected this year.

Riverside produces finely machined parts for what Weishaar considers both the "offensive" and "defensive" halves of the military: offensive such as components for laser-guided bombs, air-to-surface missiles and the M1-A1 Abrams tank; defensive like parts for bio-chem detection equipment that General Dynamics is developing for the Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS). With the recent government focus on procurement of complex systems for homeland security initiatives, the company expects to play an increasing role in supplying its products in that market.

Riverside prides itself on high-end, high-tech machining of parts that protect Americans in harm’s way, and that ultimately protect the country and its citizens. More can be learned about Riverside by logging on to their Website, www.riversidemnf.com.