Your Local SBA

Cleveland District Office
Small Business Person of the Year
Cooling the Way

Ron Clutter epitomizes the hard work, the risk-taking, and the creativity that are the characteristics of successful American entrepreneurs,” said Gil Goldberg, District Director of SBA’s Cleveland District Office.
 
“These are the qualities that make small businesses such a powerful force in the American economy, and these are the qualities that make Ron the State of Ohio’s Small Business Person of the Year.”
 
Mr. Goldberg noted that nominees for this award are judged on seven criteria: staying power; growth in number of employees; increase in sales and/or unit volume; strong current and past financial reports; innovativeness of product or service offered; response to adversity; and contributions by nominee to aid community-oriented projects.
 
Nordic Air Incorporated designs and manufactures special purpose industrial cooling equipment.  Nordic Air’s product line includes portable and industrial air conditioning units, as well as power, filter and compressor units.  Its products are designed to operate in extreme climates, from desert regions with extreme dust and temperatures as high as 160 degrees, to the corrosive environments found within steel mills.
 
Nordic Air has designed and developed Environmental Control Units for use by the United States military in desert regions of the world, including Iraq.  The units were created to meet the special needs of protecting military equipment and personnel from extremely harsh environments.  Its decision to pursue military applications paid off in 2004 when Nordic Air was awarded a 5 year, $45 million Marine Corps contract.
 
Nordic Air has achieved amazing growth over the past six years.  Employing just 30 people in 2002 in a 15,000 square foot facility, Nordic Air today employs 225 in a sprawling 185,000 square foot complex. The firm expects to add 30-50 employees and another 75,000 square feet of production space by the summer of 2008. 
 
“This year we are delighted to recognize Ron Clutter and Nordic Air’s significant contribution to the economy of Northeast Ohio”, Mr. Goldberg added.  “Ron exemplifies entrepreneurship at its best.”
 
The President of the United States designates one week each year as National Small Business Week in recognition of the small business community’s contribution to the American economy.   This celebration honors the estimated 26 million small businesses in America that employ half of the country's private work force, create 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually, and generate a majority of American innovations.