Persistence paid off for Pleasantville native Terry Crawford. He’d been working a construction job for a few years after he graduated from Chestnut Ridge High School in 1982, but when he decided that wasn’t the career for him, he set his sights on a new career in manufacturing. “Back then (in the mid-1980s) there weren’t a lot of alternatives, so I applied at Cannondale. I must have gone back every week for more than two months before they gave in and hired me,” he said. He started as an entry-level finish weld sander, sanding the welds smooth on bicycle frames. Within three months he was tack welding - tacking the frame pieces in place; within six months he was a finish welder. Today he is a fabrication supervisor, overseeing the welding operation in the plant. As a supervisor he still does some welding, but much of his time is spent training new welders, scheduling the 35 welders who work in his department and monitoring the work flow for efficiency and quality.

The exceptional quality of the welding is a hallmark of Cannondale’s bicycles, and Terry said that’s a direct reflection on the unusually high skills and dedication of the Bedford workforce. “We’ve come a long way since I started in our welding skills,” Terry said. “When I first started as a weld sander, we really did need to sand the welds to smooth the frames. Now our welds are so precise that we really don’t need to sand - the welds are almost invisible even without sanding, more like they’re molded than welded.” He said that skill has been developed even though the aluminum and composite materials used in the hi-tech Cannondale bikes are more difficult to weld than steel. “I’d put our welding staff up against anyone in the world, we’re that good,” he said.

For young people thinking about a career in welding, he advises them to go through the Bedford County Technical Center program to learn metal working. “We sent one of our old welders to the Tech Center so the students could have experience welding aluminum,” Terry said. “If they’ve gone through a program they can start out here or any other plant and begin welding right away. It’s a big plus if they have that basic training already.” In addition, Terry said a prospective welder should like working with his or her hands and like making a product. On a typical day 400 to 500 bikes are produced at the Cannondale plant, which means welders need to be both precise and productive to keep up with the work flow. “They should like the challenge of being part of a team to make that production happen,” Terry said.

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