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Saluting this rebound, the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of
Commerce recently honored Fredericks as its manufacturer of
the year.
Fredericks' skilled craftspeople shape, polish and cut
different kinds of glass, and seal such disparate materials
as Kovar, a trademarked metal, , sapphire, germanium and
platinum.
Walking through the shops, some of which look like college
science labs, Reimann calls each worker by name, often
stopping to talk about some new process or technique.
The company was founded in 1936 by George E. Fredericks. A
few years later, it was hired to work on the World War II
Manhattan Project. When Fredericks, a Quaker, learned that
the Manhattan project had created the first atomic bomb, he
was stricken with guilt.
"Mr. Fredericks sold the company, repented, and left the
country to spend the rest of his life teaching in Austria,"
Reimann said.
Reimann joined the company in 1983 as executive vice
president. Nine months later, the boss retired and he was
promoted to president.
He has been running the company ever since. His father and
uncles owned businesses, and he always "felt a burning
desire" for the feeling one gets "when you open the back
door each morning and know you own the doorknob."
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That opportunity came in 1995, when the company was one of
many owned by Henry Rowan of Rancocas, N.J. Reimann had
earlier approached Rowan, saying that if the company were
ever put up for sale he would like to an opportunity to buy
it.
Rowan helped Reimann get bank loans to make the
acquisition.
Reimann has an economics degree from Gettysburg College, an
engineering degree from the University of Hartford, and a
master's of business administration from Drexel University.
He had worked for large corporations - as a designer for
Pratt &Whitney, the aircraft-engine-maker; in production
at Scott Paper; and in engineering and production of glass
and metal products for what is now called West
Pharmaceutical Services Inc.
All that prepared him to work where he is. "Whether you make
a wooden widget or glass widget, the technology and skills
are very similar. You just have to know the science of the
material and what's involved in working with it," he
said.
He wants the Fredericks Co. to grow, but not so fast or so
large that its basic nature changes. "I like going out each
day and saying, 'Good morning.' I like knowing everybody by
name, asking questions, and getting involved," he said.
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