Clinkenbeard President and Vice President Retire

Ronald Gustafson Jr., vice president business development, announces that Ronald Gustafson Sr., Clinkenbeard president, and Michael A. Barlow, Clinkenbeard vice president, both are retiring from the company.

Gustafson Sr. will be retained by Clinkenbeard as a senior advisor. 

Clinkenbeard, an M2M Group company, is a leader in rapid production of complex castings and machined parts using a wide variety of metals and plastics.

Steve Helfer was hired by Clinkenbeard in July 2012 as its new general manager.  The younger Gustafson was promoted from project manager to vice president business development, and Jim Clark to senior program manager.

The elder Gustafson was the visionary of Clinkenbeard.  Since 1978, he has led the company's growth and innovation strategies to its current position as a global leader in rapid prototyping.  Ron Sr. invented the Clinkenbeard Toolingless Process, and it was sold with the business to Generation Growth Capital Inc. of Milwaukee, WI, earlier this year.

Gustafson Sr. has worked in the pattern making industry since 1966. He has led efforts to reduce lead time for sand foundry tooling by up to 90%, and has actively participated in concurrent engineering teams with customers.