Minnesota Business Partner Creates New Product

A Minnesota entrepreneur just launched a product he’s been working on for the last 35 years. Why am I talking about this here? Because that Minnesota entrepreneur worked with Mead Metals to source metal material for his product. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. Instead, let’s take a moment to meet Tom McMullen and the ClipDifferent Pro.

Tom McMullen and the ClipDifferent Pro

Tom McMullen began researching and planning what would become the ClipDifferent Pro 35 years ago. His adult children still remember those early sketches from their childhood. And in the last year, Tom has taken those final steps to bring his invention to market.

The ClipDifferent Pro is the first automatic fingernail clipper that trims fingernails with a simple touch of a button. It’s a nail clipper “for a variety of people with a multitude of abilities, who by nature or choice, would like an easier way to clip their fingernails.

Our Small Part

As I mentioned above, I’m sharing Tom’s story here on our blog because Tom partnered with us and Ameristar to source metal material for his product. Specifically, we helped to source 420 stainless steel, which is used in the shearing blade of the ClipDifferent Pro. The blade was then fabricated by Ameristar, a company out of Mankato, MN we regularly work with. We’re very happy for Tom and proud to be the metal supplier that could meet his needs.

Customers of All Shapes and Sizes

When you think of Mead Metals customers, a local entrepreneur might not be at the top of your list, but the truth is, we work with customers of all shapes and sizes. And because we specialize in high-quality, low-volume specialty metals, Tom is an excellent fit for us, and a great partner overall.

We’ve recently featured a few of our customers, which included a small business owner and artist, and we look forward to adding even more. At Mead Metals, we take a consultative approach to selling, meaning our customers don’t need to know exactly what they need before contacting us. Instead, they can work with our salespeople to get the materials they need.

I want to give a big thank you to Tom McMullen for partnering with Mead Metals and Ameristar and allowing us to share a bit about his story. If you’d like, you can learn more about Tom and his story in this article by the Star Tribune.