A MidMichigan manufacturing company is getting attention in Washington D.C.earning a regional subcontractor of the year award.
Contour Fabricating Incorporated, also known as CFI Medical in Fenton received the award.
NBC25 stopped by Tuesday to see what makes the company so special.
"We were quite surprised actually," says Richard A. Weaver, CEO of CFI. The 73-year-old says he doesn't go to work expecting to win awards, but when they come, he'll take them. "I'd have to say it ranks right up there with the best of them."
Weaver bought the company in 1996. Since then, it's grown 600%. The 15 to 20 employees, grew to around 300. There are two facilities in Fenton, and one in China. It manufactures products from sterile bags to positioning aids for medical procedures.
It also manufactures zero-gravity radiation protection devices. They act similar to a lead apron, but there's no weight to it and when the medical professional is done using it, it slides out of the way.
But that's not the reason for the award. An aerospace company, Lockeed Martin, needed a solution involving carbon fiber material.
Weaver says, "We were able to solve that problem for them, and they were happy. Then, low and behold they recommended us for this award."
CFI won that award, and it was off to Washington D.C.
"When you're sitting 10 feet from the President of the United States, that's pretty exciting," says Weaver.
He says, the secret to success is having a quality team producing quality products.
"Everybody here takes pride in the quality that we build, and they care about things."
CFI says its success is based on the ability to find new and different ways of solving solutions in a highly competitive market.
