🔒Nemeth pilots Meriden manufacturer Jonal Laboratories into new markets

For years, when it came to measuring parts at Jonal Laboratories in Meriden, a hand-held micrometer did the job.

But recently CEO Marc Nemeth invested in a table-mounted laser measuring tool that captures 1 million data points in 15 seconds — and costs $100,000.

“You have to stay ahead of the curve, the technology curve,” Nemeth said. “If you’re behind the curve, it's almost impossible to catch up.”

As the second-generation head of his family business, Nemeth has learned to constantly seek new markets for Jonal Laboratories’ products, the rubber and silicone seals used in aircraft engines, airframes and spacecraft.

“You build a business when times are tough,” Nemeth said. “We’re taking our core competency and we are going after a whole lot of different markets.”

The tough times lately come courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic, which grounded aircraft fleets for months and slowed the entire supply chain in the aerospace industry. Orders from Jonal clients like Pratt & Whitney and Boeing dropped 70% in 2020 compared to 2019.

With help from $2 million in Paycheck Protection Program loans to keep key operations going, Jonal took the slowdown as an opportunity to rent new manufacturing space ahead of planned expansion into new markets, Nemeth said.

The privately-held company, which declined to disclose its annual revenues, employs 115 people in Meriden, at its historic headquarters at 456 Center St. and in an 11,000-square-foot manufacturing site at 290 Pratt St. Products include a range of O-ring seals, fabric-reinforced seals, thin-walled diaphragms, aerodynamic and platform seals, rubber-to-metal bonding, silicone extrusions and EMI/RFI shielding products.

Jonal occupies a sweet spot between tiny mom-and-pop shops and huge conglomerates that make seals as one of myriad product lines, Nemeth said. As a midsize, tech-driven company, Jonal can hold its own with the giants on its chemistry, engineering and manufacturing technology, while excelling on working directly with its clients and responding quickly to their needs.

“The thing that overlays that is customer service,” Nemeth said. “We try to get close to our customers and find out what their problems are and solve their problems.”

Since its founding, Jonal has developed more than 6,000 compounds for use in seal-making, and the Center Street plant houses advanced labs to customize seals for thousands of uses, along with a range of seal-making molds, presses and laminators.

“There’s a bias against small companies so we have to punch above our weight,” Nemeth said. “We have to demonstrate to our customers that we’re able to do the work now.”

Soon workers will be filling up a new space on Research Parkway to fulfill Nemeth’s vision of a company that “punches above its weight,” making seals for an even wider range of aerospace and other customers.

Third generation readies for leadership

That vision of the future also animates Nemeth’s 31-year-old daughter, Haley, who is working at Jonal in executive administration as she prepares to move into leadership. The younger Nemeth had trained as a social worker but grew to appreciate Jonal’s family atmosphere and importance to the local economy.

“I figured out I was going to help a lot more people by continuing this business,” she said. “I can help a whole family unit by providing jobs rather than by being a social worker.”

Marc Nemeth looks on proudly as his daughter supplies facts about the company’s products and customers. He took over from his own father, company founder John Nemeth, in 1977, and is getting ready to retire.

Marc Nemeth’s pursuit of new businesses led the company into the airframe market about a decade ago, making seals for cabin doors, pylons and other parts of commercial planes. Now Jonal is one of only a handful of smaller companies on the East Coast making parts for giants like Boeing.

Anticipating expansion into larger seals, Nemeth rented the Pratt Street site, equipped it with larger-scale equipment and let it sit idle for years as he developed a client base.

“We needed that to demonstrate to our customers that we are able to do the work: ready, willing and able,” Nemeth said. “Now when you walk through that space you will see that it’s fully fitted out and operating to make seals for our customers.”

Other industry trends are also expected to take shape soon at Jonal, including 3D printing, advanced data analysis and robotics. The company hired more middle management during the pandemic to strategize new approaches while COVID’s impact continues.

Potential markets include track vehicles, aircraft readiness and other contracts from the U.S. military, in addition to other aerospace companies.

“We are actively going after opportunities,” Nemeth said. “This is a time to build a business.”