A History of Trust, Loyalty, and Superior Service Built on a Shared Vision

Fifty years ago, Al Friedman didn’t set out to be an innovative manufacturer of wire. He wasn’t planning to carry the world’s largest variety of magnet wire under one roof. He simply wanted to win the trust and loyalty of customers by providing exceptional service and always honoring his commitments, even if that meant exploring new ways to solve tough challenges. By following these principles, MWS grew. In the first few years of business, Al discovered that “Yes” was a very powerful word. “Yes, I’ll try that for you. Yes, I think we can make it that way.” He took orders over the phone while spooling wire by hand. He personally delivered orders when he needed to meet customer deadlines.

With only so many hours in the day, Al needed help. So, he hired his first employee, Pat Berry to send out invoices and pay the bills. Pat stayed with MWS until she retired in 1992. Today, Adeline Strabley has taken over his role, oversees the entire accounting department and enjoys the respect and friendship of everyone at MWS.

As Al continued to build MWS, he found and hired a few college students who loved team sports. Ken Goss, Greg Fancon, and Mike McClure all shared in Al’s passion to excel at providing the highest quality wire and excellent service. And no one was surprised to find that they made a winning team.

Today, Ken, Mike and Greg are all happily retired after 40+ years at MWS. But all 3 have made sure their legacy lives on: Ken’s son Denis is the current CFO, Mike’s son Kevin runs Business Development for the Medical segment and Greg’s daughter Brett is in charge of MWS’ ERP system in IT. But family ties run deeper and across many departments. Assistant Shipping Manager Michael is the son of Industrial Sales Manager Eric Yelich, Hector Alvarez Jr.’s father, Hector Sr., has been a standout in the MWS shipping and manufacturing department since 1994. And the list goes on, and gets even longer when you include friends and ex-colleagues all coming together to form a really fantastic place to work. To say MWS is a family-oriented business is putting it mildly. As MWS turned 50, it broke new ground and in 2020 moved into a brand new facility in Oxnard, CA.

Sadly, 2022 was also the year that Al Friedman passed away. His entrepreneurial, solution focused mindset lives large.