Global Fastener News

March 4, 1982 FIN – The Western Association of Fastener Distributors is off and running.

In which of the 13 Western states (including Alaska and Hawaii) or two Western provinces of Canada will the first board meeting be held? Columbus, Ohio, site of the fastener show-the one place they all knew they would be in May.
People from some 35-40 companies got together and in an 11:30 am to 8:30 pm session, put the thing together. It will have, initially, 50 members: 38 distributors, 11 suppliers and 1 manufacturers’ rep.
The working name, Western Fastener Distributors Association, was rejected because it resembled too closely the name of one of the charter members: Western Fasteners in San Diego.
Spearheading the new organization has been Bob Lehman of Modern Metric Fasteners, Glendale, California. He saw the need for an organization with a broader geographic base and tighter membership rules than Los Angeles Fasteners Association.
Board members from LAFA attended the meeting forming WAFD and relations between the two groups are expected to remain cordial.

The first general meeting will be this coming fall, some time around the first week in October, at a place yet to be picked.
There will be a spring meeting in 1983.
The two annual meetings for the general membership will be supplemented with board meetings and, probably, regional meetings.

WAFD has strict membership requirements patterned after National Fastener Distributors Association. You must have been in business for at least three years. No truck jobbers will be allowed. There will be requirements on the amount of inventory stocked. A supplier or rep has to have a warehouse or stock located somewhere from Denver on west.

President of the new organization is Larry Stanley, of Empire Bolt & Screw, Inc., Spokane, WA. Vice president is Dave Kendall, Portland Screw Co., Portland, OR. Secretary is Bob Lehman. Treasurer is Chuck Jenefsky, Industrial Bolt & Screw Co., Phoenix, AZ.

Other Board members are Mel Kirsner, Non-Ferrous Manufacturing Co., Las Vegas, NV; Harold Benson, Consolidated Bolt & Nut, Los Angeles, CA; Martin Calfee, Copper State Bolt & Nut, Phoenix, AZ; Ray Bristow, Ray Bristow Co., Portland, OR; and Dick Thull, Porteous Fastener Co., Carson, CA.
As in NFDA, directors will be elected for staggered three-year terms, one third being elected each year. ©1982/2009 Fastener Industry News.
Editor’s Note: For additional information on the founding of WAFD, click on “Company History” in the Fastener History section of GlobalFastenerNews.com