A third-generation O’Hara manufacturer was named the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Western Pennsylvania Exporter of the Year.

Sauereisen, Inc., along Gamma Drive in RIDC Park, is a locally owned coating company that, since 1899, has produced corrosion-resistant materials commonly used in household appliances.

“We’re not a commodity material provider but a piece of the bigger picture,” Eric Sauereisen, president, said.

“Our coatings protect concrete and steel or a piece within many appliances. We may be in just about every home in America and across the world.”

More than a century ago, the mostly self-taught ceramist C. Fred Sauereisen developed his company’s first formula for high-temperature adhesive cement that was used in nearly every vehicle manufactured in the United States.

The company history stretches back to a partnership between the Sauereisen patriarch and industrialist George Westinghouse.

Their working relationship led to the formulation of one of Sauereisen’s signature products — a chemical bonding agent that still is used in high-temperature electrical assembly applications in automotive and appliance industries, Janet Heyl, SBA public affairs specialist, said.

“In your dryer or oven, one of our products may be part of the ignitor,” Sauereisen said. “It enables persons to safely turn on their ovens with temperatures going from zero to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit without worries.”

Fast-forward to today and the products have grown to include corrosion-resistant materials for new and rehab uses.

“Not all Western Pennsylvania residents may know about Sauereisen, Inc., but chances are when they safely turn on a gas oven, clothes dryer, grill or even get a drink of tap water, it’s a result of a Sauereisen product,” Heyl said.

Creating an international distribution network earned Sauereisen the SBA honor.

For the century-old company to compete in today’s marketplace, it had to enhance its customer base through exporting, which now reflects 40% of its revenue.

Sauereisen credited the SBA’s involvement for the company’s exporting success.

The company uses the SBA’s State Trade Expansion Program (STEP), which provides matching-fund grants for states to increase the number of small businesses that export.

Pennsylvania’s grant enabled Sauereisen to pursue new exporting opportunities 10 years ago, he said, and helped the company broaden its audience.

The SBA also enabled Sauereisen’s partnership with the Duquesne University Small Business Development Center (SBDC), which has extensive ties to Latin and South American markets.

The SBDC is SBA and state-funded, and helps small businesses in every phase of development, SBA Western Pennsylvania District Director Kelly Hunt said.

“It’s amazing a small dab of (Sauereisen’s) compound not only was invented and manufactured here but found its way into so many global applications,” she said.

Since breaking ground in RIDC Park in 1966, the company has earned many accolades, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Family Business Award in 2013 and the E-Star Award from the US Department of Commerce in 2010 and 2019.

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