TYRONE — The Tyrone Division of Chicago Rivet and Machine Co. sits along Adams Avenue on the site of a former Pennsylvania Railroad recreational facility that included a golf course.

“I’ve been told Chicago Rivet is sitting on number nine,” said Mike Sweitzer, a company employee for 42 years and plant manager for the last 23 years.

Chicago Rivet and Machine — which makes between 800 and 1,000 different rivets — will be one of five businesses that will be inducted into the Blair County Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame on Oct. 15 at the Blair County Convention Center.

“Based on the others that have been elected in the past, it’s real gratifying for Chicago Rivet to be honored with this selection,” Sweitzer said.

Mirror photo by Gary M. Baranec Tom Stott feeds wire into a machine that narrows it down to the width needed for a job run.

“We’re honored that our Tyrone team members have been recognized by the Blair County business community for their many years of outstanding and dedicated efforts on behalf of our organization,” said John Morrissey Jr., vice president of sales for the Napierville, Ill.-based company, founded in 1920.

“Every Tyrone member, past and present, is responsible in Chicago Rivet & Machine Co.’s receipt of this hall of fame honor. For without their many years of contributions, this recognition couldn’t be possible,” he said.

The Tyrone Division, which opened in 1947, is one of two manufacturing facilities for Chicago Rivet, which operates in the industrial fastener industry through the production and sale of the industry’s most complete selection of fasteners, assembly equipment and automated assembly systems.

Chicago Rivet’s fastener division has been a global name known for excellence and dependability since 1920, according to its website.

“We make fasteners and ma­chines. We build machines that use our own rivets. The machine segment is about 20 percent of our business,” Sweitzer said.

Today, the local plant employs about 100 workers.

“It’s been steady for the last 15 years. In the early 1970s, we had 300 here,” Sweitzer said.

Sweitzer said the plant has been adding new equipment over the last 10 years.

“We did it a piece at a time. We had to purchase more equipment to meet standards. Technology keeps changing. The machines run at 200-300 parts a minute today compared to 50-60 parts a minute,” Sweitzer said.

“Some of the machines built in the 1950s, they last forever but run slow. Technology has enabled us to produce our products more efficiently. It’s crazy how fast things have got,” he added.

Cutco Cutlery is one of Chicago Rivet’s biggest customers.

“We built a machine for them to put three rivets in at a time. We have the ability to design specific machines,” said Sweitzer, a plant employee for 42 years who’s served as general manager for the last 23.

Paul Eade, Cutco product engineering manager, has been working with Chicago Rivet for the past 30 years.

“Chicago Rivet has been a source for us. We’ve always tried to get our fasteners domestically, and Chicago Rivet has always been our primary vendor. Most of our assembly machines were made in Tyrone. They make a very good quality machine that does the job day in and day out,” Eade said.

“As far as fasteners, Chicago Rivet has always been a great supplier for us. We feel good about our relationship with them,” he added.

Chicago Rivet is best known for its quality, Sweitzer said.

“You talk to our customer base, and they say we make a good product and stand behind it,” Sweitzer said.

Support from the corporate office has been important to the plant’s success.

“I go back to the support from the board of directors and management who keep us current with technology and our long-term employees who have provided us with consistent performance,” Sweitzer said.

Sweitzer is optimistic about the plant’s future.

“We’re looking at expansion. Whether this will happen or not, we don’t know. Our building is tight. We’d like to bring in more technology, and the newer ma­chines are bigger. If we can get more space, there’s po­tential for expansion,” Sweitzer said.

It isn’t always easy to find qualified workers.

“A lot of this is highly skilled work. You can’t go to a trade school and find people with the necessary train­ing. For some of these positions, it takes three years to train. We don’t have any trouble finding general machinists,” Sweitzer said.

Chicago Rivet employees are active in the community.

“We support local activities like Little League, the hospital and the fire companies. The employees participate in Relay For Life. We just went over $100,000 in donations to the American Cancer Society for the years we’ve done that. The employees are self-motivated — that shows the kind of people we have here,” Sweitzer said.