By Jim Hagerty
Repoter

ROCKFORD – Specialty Screw Corporation broke ground on a $2.5 million expansion Monday at their northwest Rockford facility.

The 20,000-square-foot addition will add 10 jobs to the operation. Specialty Screw CEO Russ Johansson said timing has been of the essence for Monday’s ceremony, attended by family, employees and public officials.

“(I) put off pulling the trigger for a couple years,” Johansson told reporters, “thinking the economy was starting to slow down. It hasn’t, we’re cramped for space and believe the future is going to be positive.”

Specialty Screw Corporation is at 2801 Huffman Blvd. Founded in 1953 by four tradesmen, it supplied fasteners to the cabinet hardware and automotive industries. Today, the privately-owned company is also a leading manufacturer of engineered fasteners and cold-formed parts for law and garden equipment, plumbing, residential windows and doors, firearms, hand tools and a wide variety of other products.

Specialty Screw received two global awards last year. In November it received a Supplier Performance Award from Adient, the world’s largest automotive seating supplier. Specialty was one of only 53 companies around the world to receive an award for its leadership, commitment to excellence, and exceptional performance in quality, cost, logistics, development, technology and service. Top automotive supplier Yazaki recognized Specialty Screw in July with an Environmental, Health & Safety Supplier Award.

Specialty Screw was featured in WTVO’s “Made in the Stateline” series last year.

More information about Specialty Screw is at specialtyscrew.com. R.