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Ford B. Cauffiel
“Master Entrepreneur of Ohio”
Inventor, Engineer, Business, Education

Ford B. Cauffiel
Over 50 years of experience and over 20 U.S. patents in developing, designing, and manufacturing highly-efficient aluminum and steel processing plants.

EDUCATION
1944 to 1948 Libbey High School
1948 to 1952 University of Detroit (College of Mechanical Engineering)

EXPERIENCE
1944 to 1949 From 14 to 19 years old, with my brother Lowell Cauffiel, designed, built and sold the “Cauffiel Engine”. Later sold the engineering rights to Clinton Machine Corporation, which became the largest small engine company in the United States.
1948 to 1952 University of Detroit, College of Mechanical Engineering
E1 | 1952 to 1954 Staff Production Engineer at Ford Motor Company, Engine & Foundry Division. (Large company, not enough feeling of accomplishment.)
E1 | 1954 to 1955 Sales Engineer at Motch & Merryweather Machine Company, Detroit, Michigan. Sold large machinery and automation to the automotive industry.
E1, B | 1955 Founded Cauffiel Machine Company as an engineering company, later became Cauffiel Machinery Corporation and Cauffiel Industries Corporation.
B | 1957 Purchased management contract for Studebaker-Pontiac dealership.
E1, B | 1962 Purchased 100,000 square foot crane building from National Supply, Toledo, Ohio, to manufacture steel processing machinery and develop industrial manufacturing complex.
E1, B | 1962 Purchased 200,000 square foot crane building (E. W. Bliss Building), Toledo, Ohio, to form Toledo Industrial Center to develop industrial real estate, expand machinery manufacturing facility and further develop manufacturing companies.
E1, B | 1963 Purchased 150,000 square foot railroad locomotive crane building from New York Railroad, known as the Campbell Street Works, Toledo, Ohio, to further expand heavy industry. (Still used for manufacturing heavy-duty, high-tech steel processing machinery and lithium products.)
I, E1 | 1965 Built first and largest steel processing system for St. Louis Ship Company to precision cut steel plate from coil up to 3/4" thick x 84” wide using a cold process for producing barges on the Mississippi River making it possible for St. Louis Ship to sell for $280 million, which revolutionized the steel industry.
I, E1 | 1968 Built and patented first steel tapered pole process for high tension tapered poles and street light tapered poles for Valmont Industries and other steel tapered pole manufacturers.
B | 1974 Received the President’s “E” Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Expanding Exports”, which is the highest award given to a business by the U.S. Government. Mostly sold cut-to-length lines, slitting lines, press feed lines, and allied equipment.
I, B | 1981 Developed highly-efficient, evacuated, concentrated solar collector used in Africa for producing, hot water (160oF) for the canning industry and tourism (hotels, etc.)
I, E1, B | 1981 Founded Alabama Pickling and Warehousing - Developed highly-efficient chemical process using very little energy of agitating hot hydrochloric acid in a sealed, non-polluting system for removing scale from hot rolled steel coils used in automotive and air conditioning/refrigeration manufacturing.
E1, B | 1982 Sold 200,000 square foot crane building (E.W. Bliss Building) with tenants to Champion Spark Plug (known as Baron Drawn Steel Corporation) to create jobs and expand industry in the inner city of Toledo, Ohio.
I, B | 1983 Developed a co-generation system using natural gas and oil for producing heat and electricity using an induction generator for the textile and canning industries.
I, B | 1984 Built, own and operate a 72” wide x 60,000# coil capacity push/pull pickle line and steel plant in Illinois, Granite City Pickling & Warehouse, Inc., located on U.S. Steel Corporation’s property (formerly National Steel Corporation) to process high quality steel coils for the automotive, truck and agricultural industries.
E | 1985 Built classic car museum for my great American, true classic cars, which includes: Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Packard, Stutz, Mercer, and race cars. Museum is used for parties to raise funds for the Toledo Opera, Toledo Symphony, Young Presidents’ Association, Rotary Clubs, and many other Toledo organizations, including Students For Other Students (SOS).
E1, B | 1986 Founded American Steel Products Company, Toledo, Ohio, which revolutionized steel building frames (instead of wood). Now used in all commercial buildings known as steel stud construction.
E2 | 1989 Founded Students For Other Students (SOS), a non-profit organization that pays students up to $8/hour to tutor other students, which is in 21 school districts throughout Northwest Ohio, Michigan, Illinois and New York. SOS expanded in Ohio through a partnership with Rotary International. Personally funded over $2,000,000 since 1989. Over 20,000 children have experienced the benefits of peer tutoring due to the SOS program.
B | 1990 Purchased office building, 3171 N. Republic Blvd., Toledo, “Cauffiel Building” to develop many companies.
I | 1992 Invented the “EZ-Table” to replace TV-tables for recliner chairs - sold to Am Fab, Inc., A Bissell Healthcare Company, on a guaranteed royalty basis of $13,000/month.
E1 | 1994 Sold and built equipment for Chinese company for making advance aluminum tin alloy for bearing material as used in internal combustion and diesel engines, the largest automobile bearing producing plant in the world with a 25% ownership.
B | 1996 Purchased 80 acres of industrial property near I-75, the Ohio Turnpike and Rt. 795 known as the “Golden Triangle” and developed and sold to many small companies, including Walgreen’s Drug Company. Donated remaining land to Nature’s Nursery for bird migration observation.
B | 1997 Sold industrial buildings to Banner Mattress, Toledo, Ohio, to expand their mattress manufacturing facilities.
E2 | 1998 With a $750,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation, helped start an Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA) program at the University of Toledo. The EMBA program brought in over $10 million to the University of Toledo. Also served as Director of the Advisory Board for the EMBA program.
E1, B | 1998 Sold First Solar, Toledo, Ohio, their first sputtering machine for applying cadmium telluride to glass, later became a billion dollar company.
E1, I, B | 2000 Founded Lithium Innovations, Company, LLC, to make battery material and other lithium products. Perform extrusion and pressing of lithium sheets in a state-of-the-art dry room inside of the largest U.S. glovebox. Supply lithium sputter targets to the dynamic glass (electrochromics) industry and isotopically enriched lithium sheets to universities designing neutron detectors.
E2 | 2001 With all expenses paid, made two day study with over 50 people from Toledo, including Toledo Public Schools’ (Superintendent Eugene Sanders and Staff), teachers’ union, University of Toledo (President Daniel Johnson and College of Education), on how 88% of Houston’s fourth grade students were reading proficiently when only 25% of Toledo’s fourth grade students were reading proficiently.
E1, B | 2004 Built successful aluminum rolling mill plant in Nigeria for producing rust-free, colored roofing panels for commercial buildings, financed by the U.S. Government EXIM Bank.
E2 | 2006 Peer-tutoring program started in Cleveland Public Schools with a $3.5 million grant - over 10,000 students involved (designed after Toledo Public Schools’ SOS program).
I | 2007 Received $600,000 contract through a partnership with the treasurer of Goldman Sachs for a developed process for converting cellulose (wood chips, corn stover, algae) into ethanol and butanol.
E1, I | 2007 Built rolling mill for the U.S. Army for converting titanium powder into light-gauge sheet for products such as vests to protect our armed forces.
E2 | 2007-2008 President, Rotary Club of Reynolds Corners - The Rotary furnished funds for Students For Other Students (SOS) pilot programs throughout Ohio to incorporate into 32,000 Rotary Clubs worldwide. Rotary International has 32,000 clubs worldwide known for 100% prevention of polio in children.
B, I | 2009 Further developed Lithium Innovations Company to produce long-lasting lithium material to make 10 year lasting batteries for the pharmaceutical industry.
B, I | 2009 Further developed Lithium Innovations Company to make devices (targets) for applying Lithium to glass for the plate glass industry to control and adjust infrared sunlight saving up to 25% in electrical energy in commercial buildings.
B, I | 2010 Started research and development of neutron detector similar to Boston University.
E | 2011 Sold engineering and built the largest steel plate leveler in the world for LeTourneau that produces up to 6” thick x 168” wide steel.
B | 2012 Purchased American Metal Processing Co., LLC, Cleveland, Ohio, out of bankruptcy, a dedicated toll processor of slitting and cut-to-length from coil for steel mills and steel trading companies. Company consists of 75,000 square feet under bridge cranes with many older steel processing lines, which were modified to improve capacity and production.
B | 2012 Purchased condemned 160,000 square foot plant for $1.00 and sold to industrial truck and trailer rebuilding and parts company for $600,000.
B | 2014 Started Ford Recycled Plastics, LLC, funded and developed plastic process for producing polypropylene, nylon, and polyethylene recycled plastic material from carpet material and automotive plastics.
B, I | 2015 Lithium Innovations Company received a large contract from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security for a rugged, solid-state neutron detector for detecting possible atomic weapons/bombs that could be in ocean/air shipping containers without opening the containers. Can also be used at atomic plants, oil/gas wells and hospitals.

WORLD TRADE Designed, built, and installed many steel processing systems/plants all over the world, including England, Ireland, The Netherlands, France, Israel, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, New Zealand, Korea, China, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Nigeria, Jordan, Honduras, and Romania.

INTERESTS Past sponsor of “Miss Cauffiel of Toledo”, an Unlimited Hydroplane that reaches speeds over 200 MPH. Brought unlimited hydroplane races to the Maumee River, Toledo, Ohio.

Classic Cars including Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Packard, Cadillac, Stutz, Milburn, and other US historical cars from 1917 to 1938 housed in private museum.

Investments in industrial real estate and stocks and bonds in over 20 small and medium size companies throughout the United States.

Golf/Tennis


AWARDS Many patents in steel processing machinery and consumer products.

Presidential "E" Award from the U.S. Government for "Outstanding Contribution to Export Expansion", 1974

Received the "Celebrate Literacy" award from the International Reading Association for the promotion of literacy for developing and proving a system by paying students to tutor other students and starting a foundation called Students For Other Students (SOS)

Winner of the “Master Entrepreneur Of The Year Award”, 1994, sponsored by Ernst & Young, Merrill Lynch, and Inc. Magazine

Honored at The Entrepreneur Of The Year Institute’s International Conference in Palm Springs, California, 1994

Received honor into Libbey High School’s Hall of Fame, 1994

Honored as one of “The Fifty Most Influential Business People in Northwest Ohio” by Business Venture Magazine, 1996

Received the “Horace Mann Award”, 1999 from the American Humanist Association, in recognition of philanthropic work funding student tutors in several public schools. (Other recipients of the award: Ted Turner, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Jonas E. Salk, and Erich Fromm.)

Charter Executive Masters of Business Administration (EMBA), a credited (MBA) program at the University of Toledo, past chairman of the Advisory Committee from 1996 to 1999.

Developed Lithium products to revolutionize U.S. glass plate industry by applying lithium to glass for electrochromics and new manufacturing devices for the glass industry.

Received Distinguished Service Award from the University of Toledo

Received the “Patriot Award” from the U.S. Armed Air Forces for hiring Iraq and Vietnam war veterans and helped a Vietnam veteran buy a steel processing business, 2007

Received 2008 Ohio Governor’s Outstanding Exporting Award for Medium Size Manufacturing Business

Received Jefferson Awards’ Certificate of Excellence 2013 for Outstanding Community Service Developed by Jacqueline Kennedy and Senator Robert Taft, Sr. and Sponsored by the U.S. Government and promoted by The Toledo Blade newspaper


MEMBERSHIPS
* Past
✓ Present
* American Management Association
* American Society of Mechanical Engineers
* International Toastmasters Association
✓ Classic Car Club of America
* Boys Club of America
✓ Association of Steel Distributors
✓ American Iron and Steel Institute
✓ National Association of Manufacturers
✓ Toledo Art Museum, President's Council
✓ CHILD, Inc. (Children's Healthcare Is A Legal Duty)
* Arts Commission of Greater Toledo
* United States Industrial Council Education Foundation
* Junior Achievement of Northwest Ohio
* Inventor’s Council of Toledo
✓ Toledo Astronomy Association
✓ Rotary Club of Reynolds Corners
✓ Stone Oak Country Club
✓ Shadow Valley Tennis Club
✓ Maumee Valley Thunderbird Club

SUBSIDIARIES Cauffiel Industries, Inc.
Lithium Innovations Company, LLC
American Steel Products Company
American Metal Processing Company, LLC
Granite City Pickling & Warehouse, Inc.
Toledo Industrial Center Company
Republic Property Company
Ford Recycled Plastics, LLC
Students For Other Students (SOS)
Cara Metals Illinois, LLC
Toledo Investment Opportunities, LLC

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