Aitkin Facility Addition Complete
On July 19th, our team here at Stern kicked off a 10,000-square foot building addition at our facility in Aitkin, Minnesota. This expansion, doubled the size of the plant, and will increase the work force that is currently there, by over 50%. The plant in Aitkin is currently used to produce our 4’’ through 12’’ […]
Great Turn Out for CEO Ice Fishing Event
A few week ago, our blog featured an upcoming event in the Staples area, put on by the Central Minnesota CEO class. Myself, along with several other Stern members, including General Manager and CEO Board Chair Bob Jackson, Purchasing/Inventory Supervisor Connie Krueger, and Aitkin Plant Lead Sam Vipperman, had the opportunity to attend the event hosted […]
Warm Weather Brings Concern to Outdoor Events
The last weekend in February plays host to two of the largest outdoor events in the state of Minnesota, The Frozen Fore on Gull Lake in Brained, and the Eelpout Festival on Leech Lake in Walker. As attendees began to get excited over the events, Mother Nature had a different idea. With mid-day temperatures reaching nearly […]
Shortage of Butadiene Concerns Rubber Industry
Butadiene is one of the most common components that is used in the process of making synthetic elastomers. With its two carbon-carbon double bonds, it is one of the most useful chemical building blocks, that is able to convert a monomer to a polymer, and then form a strong polymer chain that leads to the final […]
Local CEO Class to Host Ice Fishing Event
The Central Minnesota CEO class, is a conglomerate of the Staples and Wadena school districts that allows students to develop real life business skills, while working toward their final goal of starting a business of their own. This year after touring multiple different businesses, and getting all the information they need to start the business […]
Big Changes at Two of our Largest Customers
January was a month full of change, for two of our customers here at Stern Rubber. Recreational vehicle manufactures, and competitors, Polaris Industries and Arctic Cat, both announced modifications to their companies for the future. The alterations to the companies began with Polaris’s announcement at the beginning of January, that they would be cutting their […]
Dai Family Visits Stern Rubber Company
Last week, the Dai family that owns Stern Rubber, came from a visit. Stern Rubber was purchased by Zhongli North America, which is based in Detroit, in October of 2015. Zhongli North American is owned by Zhongli Corporation, which is a family run Chinese corporation, that is owned by the Dai Family. Several members of the […]
Wipaire Floats
Our customer base here at Stern is very broad, and ranges from tiny hearing aid pieces to massive gate valves. Our team is able to produce custom rubber parts for almost anything. One of our customers has sent our product flying high over wildfires, and that is Minnesota based Wipaire. In the late 1940’s, World […]
Minnesota’s Ugliest Fish
Whether you call it a lawyer, lush, lingcod or mud shark, the oddly shaped slimy fish, better known as the eelpout, is considered to be one of Minnesota’s ugliest fish. Receiving its common name for its eel like appearance, the eelpout is a bottom dwelling fish, that is closer related to the common cod, than its […]
2016 Year In Review
With 2017 right around the corner, those of us here at Stern like to look back and reflect on all the things that 2016 had to offer our company. From awards and certifications, to new customers and even some more expansions to our facilities, it was yet another great year here at Stern Rubber. The […]