WYANDOTTE: Family-run parts supplier celebrates 50 years – The News Herald

Employees of Wyandotte Industries Inc. gather inside the shop. (Larry Caruso/Photo Editor)

Wyandotte Industries Inc. employees Jerry Szpondowski Jr., vice-president; Christine Szpondowski, second vice-president; Jerry Spandowski Sr., president; Lori Szpondowski, quality assurance; and Wes Szpondowski, plant manager, gear up for a day at the family-run facility. (Larry Caruso/Photo Editor)

Wes Szpondowski, Wyandotte Industries' plant manager, checks an instrument panel. (Larry Caruso/Photo Editor)

Employees of Wyandotte Industries Inc. gather inside the shop. (Larry Caruso/Photo Editor)

WYANDOTTE – The year Jerry J. Szpondowski co-founded Wyandotte Industries, 1959, the minimum wage was $1 an hour, Dwight Eisenhower was president and Hawaii became a state.

A half-century later, his son, Jerry L. Szpondowski Sr., owns the business. He joined the company in 1962.

“My son, Jerry, is sales manager and works in administration,” said Szpondowski Sr., a Grosse Ile resident. “My daughter, Christine, works in human resources and is in charge of accreditation. My daughter, Lori, works in quality control. And Wes (his nephew) is plant manager.”

Jerry J. Szpondowski and Evelyn Alexander started the business. She died in 1972.

“When my dad first got started, his partner handled the business side and my dad handled the machining side,” Szpondowski Sr. said. “He was still working full time and doing this part time. When things got big enough, he quit his job and went to work at Wyandotte Industries.”

Wyandotte Industries’ products are used in automotive, construction and agricultural equipment, heavy-duty on- and off-road vehicles, air frame and aircraft parts, diesel engines and hydraulic cylinder applications.

The business was at 2730 Sixth St. until 1978, when it moved to its current location, 4625 13th St.

Hours are 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. weekdays, operating two shifts making products for companies like American Axle & Manufacturing, TRW Automotive and International Truck and Engine Corp.

In 2009, Szpondowski said, the company employed close to 70 workers. It now has 51.

He said the company’s specialty is making special fasteners out of special materials.

“They are not like the common fasteners you would find in a hardware store,” he said.

The machine shop is equipped with six- and eight-spindle Acme-Gridley screw and Davenport machines.

The equipment can produce parts out of bar stock in a range of sizes, from 11/32-inch hex to 4-inch hex, as well as square and round shapes, using carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel, brass, aluminum, silicon and bronze.

A list of special nuts, nylon insert locknuts and other products can be found on the company’s Web site, www.wyandotte.com.

“Domestically produced specialty fasteners from bar stock is our specialty,” Szpondowski wrote on his Web site.

“Whether you need a special configuration, special thread or material, we have the experience and capability to meet your needs.”

Wyandotte Industries manufactures heavy-duty inner and outer wheel nuts, slotted nuts, nylon insert locknuts and screw machine products, including bushings, collars, fittings, inserts, knurled parts, machined washers, pins, spacers and vents.

The business uses Automotive Industry Action Group standards for interfacing, releases and shipping data. Bar coding can be provided on material being shipped, using the AIAG format for identification.

In September, Szpondowski and his family celebrated 50 years in business.

“We remain dedicated to the same guiding principles upon which our company was founded, with an unwavering commitment to quality and dedication to progress,” he said.

Wyandotte Industries

Location: 4625 13th St., Wyandotte; 1-734-283-1870.

Started: September 1959.

Owner: Jerry Szpondowski Sr. of Grosse Ile.

Hours: 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. weekdays, operating two shifts.

Services: Special nuts and screw machine products.

Web site: www.wyandotte.com.