$60K In State Grants Awarded To Two Mahwah Businesses

Two manufacturing companies in Mahwah got a nice boost from the state government to help make their 140 employees better skilled.

Driving through the township, it’s easy to miss the , on McKee Drive, and on Whitney Road. Both appear low-key from their unassuming outside appearances. However inside, both are bustling manufacturing hubs.

EDAX is a high tech corporation, specializing in the manufacturing of electron microscopes and related technology. “Basically, we make high powered microscopes that can determine the exact elemental breakdown of whatever you’re looking at,” Rodrigo Rubiano, a Mahwah resident and the Division Vice President and Business Unit Manager at EDAX, said. “So, companies that need to know the exact composition of their products would purchase our machines.”

The machines are used in the pharmaceutical and forensics industries, among others.

“We are most concerned with precision and productivity,” Rubiano said. “Our machines need to be accurate, and we try to make them as efficient as possible so you can spend less time prepping samples and more time analyzing them.”

The high-tech machines, which start at about $200K for the most basic models, are manufactured in the Mahwah facility. “About 60 percent of our clients are overseas, but it certainly is important to our domestic partners that we manufacture these here,” Rubiano said. “Everything is marked ‘Made in the USA.’”

Rubiano said the company enjoys specifically making its products in Mahwah. “This is a great locations for us – it’s close to New York City and the pool of talented people in the local workforce is wonderful to choose from.” Of the 90 employees who work in the building, he said 10 to 12 live in Mahwah.

The corporation celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, and marked its 30th year in Mahwah.

On the other side of town, Tam Metal Productions is carrying out a modern-day version of a 50-year old family business. The company manufactures products out of sheet metal from its Mahwah plant. Parts made by the company are used in US defense products, like fighter jets and submarines, the aerospace industry, and the healthcare industry.

“My grandfather started the business after World War II,” Jason Cariddi, Tam’s General Manager, said. “It’s been in my family ever since.”

From the exterior of the building, a passerby would never know the inside houses a massive metal workshop and hundreds of machines and molds that shape sheet metal into an infinite number of shapes and designs.

“Our employees are craftsmen,” Cariddi said. “They manufacture the machine parts that make the specific metal pieces, they know how to bend the metal and operate all the machinery, they are really the ones who make everything, and they are great at what they do.”

The shop, which moved from Carlstadt to Mahwah 25 years ago, has 50-55 employees, depending on production rates.

Cariddi said the metal manufacturing skill is “an important one that’s leaving this country.” He said the reduced production costs in the southern United States and overseas has made the industry a shrinking one in places like Bergen County. “That’s why the grant we received will be such a big help in giving us an edge over the competition.”

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development awarded EDAX a $40,000 grant and Tam a $19,200 grant for customized training courses for their employees. The Department of Labor, which started giving the grants n 1992, says they are meant to help businesses in the state create or keep highly-skilled employees at high salaries. The grant was created with the hope, representatives say, of making NJ businesses more competitive in the global market.

EDAX has applied for, and received the grant for the past three years. This is the first time for Tam. Both companies said their training courses will help foster more lean manufacturing practices in their businesses. “This will help us be as efficient as possible,” Rubiano said. “It is a great thing.”

Cariddi said he is thankful for the money because “we probably wouldn’t have been able to afford something like this for our employees without it. The training will only make us better at what we do.”

Mahwah Mayor Bill Laforet, who toured both facilities this week to congratulate the businesses, said the grants are “important because they will help keep these businesses and jobs in Mahwah, and hopefully help attract new businesses to come here.”

He added, “A lot of the time, these businesses are invisible to most of the community. They are under-the-radar, but such an important part of what makes Mahwah, Mahwah.”

Both businesses said they would start the employee training within the next few months.