Beachwood is more than just a wonderful place to call home — it’s an ideal location for growing businesses. The city is home to nearly 2,500 companies and over 25,000 employees. With access to an educated workforce, proximity to universities, highways and airports, and a vibrant retail and commercial area, Beachwood offers excellent resources for expanding companies.
Cutting-Edge Coating
One example is Ionbond, a company specializing in advanced coating technologies. “You know the gold color on drill bits? That’s what we do,” says Mike Greenwell, plant manager at Ionbond. This coating is applied through a process called physical vapor deposition (PVD), which enhances the strength and durability of the parts. While PVD is a common technique, Ionbond in Beachwood is one of very few coating suppliers in the United States to use chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The process is similar to PVD but operates at much higher temperatures, around 1,800° F.
Ionbond serves a wide range of customers, including the aerospace industry and forming and molding industry. The company’s process coats dies that are used in machines that produce aluminum siding and in manufacturing equipment that shapes and seals aluminum cans. “Our coating interfaces with probably every beer or pop can in Northeast Ohio,” says Greenwell.
Ionbond has been in Beachwood for over 50 years and has seen substantial growth over time. In 2002, the company expanded its facility by 33%, and this year, it is adding another 800 square feet. The Beachwood plant, which spans 23,000 square feet, houses five CVD and PVD machines. “We’re bringing in new machines and updating a lot of the technology, and so we just need to expand that out,” says Greenwell. The latest update includes a utility room that will serve as an exhaust/neutralization area for the machinery and as storage, ensuring the company continues to innovate and grow.
Precision Production
Another business with deep roots in Beachwood is Helix Linear Technologies. The company specializes in manufacturing lead screws, ball screws and linear actuators used to automate various types of precision machinery. All the product design, engineering and manufacturing happens at the Beachwood location.
Chris Nook was formerly the CEO of his family business, Nook Industries, which was founded in Beachwood in 1969. Together with his father, he founded Helix in 2011. The initial focus was on providing products for the growing medical device market, such as hospital beds or machines that handle blood samples.
Starting with just three or four employees, Helix now has 70 employees in its 40,000-square-foot facility. The company recently expanded to lease an additional 10,000 square feet of space in Commerce Park. While Helix started with a focus on medical devices, the company is moving more into the aerospace industry. The new space will be used to assemble and produce products for aerospace clients.
Nook highlights the strong relationship with the city of Beachwood, noting that the city has been very supportive of the company’s growth. “Sometimes, it’s hard to believe that we’ve grown to 70 employees, and we work with customers all around the world,” says Nook. “That wouldn’t happen without our great team of people.”
Chemical Creations
When it comes to the chemical industry, BASF is a global leader. “Chemistry plays an important role in our everyday lives. Chemistry is all around us. In buildings we live in, shoes we wear, asphalt we walk on,” says Rob Prunchak, site manager at BASF in Beachwood. BASF provides chemicals for a wide variety of items including automobiles, skincare products and building materials.
At the Beachwood location, BASF employees research and develop chemical catalysts, adsorbents and cathode-active materials for lithium-ion batteries. The facility houses an advanced analytical laboratory, supporting BASF’s research and development activities. The site is expanding to include additional support for the adsorbents business, with specific projects in liquid natural gas pretreatment and CO2 purification.
In 2002, BASF acquired its Beachwood location as part of the acquisition of Engelhard Corp. “Beachwood is a great location with access to high-quality universities and major industries,” Prunchak says.
The 80,000-square-foot Beachwood facility has about 75 fulltime employees. In 2015, it underwent a major upgrade to enhance its research and development capabilities for cathode active materials.
Looking ahead, BASF plans to expand its research and development capabilities, including building a new warehouse and laboratory. This expansion highlights BASF’s commitment to strategic growth in Beachwood as the company works to support sustainable development within the chemical industry.
