I was invited earlier this year by the Small Business Development Center at Gannon to contribute short profiles of the companies it honored at its annual awards luncheon.

Each of the honored companies offers an interesting story — and the provide examples of how smart entrepreneurs can thrive in Erie.

Over the next nine Sundays, I plan to run edited versions of the profiles. Once the series is finished, we’ll archive them on the GlobalErie Profiles page.

This week we’ll focus on CSI Industries in Fairview, the Gannon SBDC’s Manufacturing Business of the Year.

CSI Industries proves that it is still possible for a small manufacturing company to thrive in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The Fairview sheet-metal manufacturer, which was created in January 2000 with the purchase of Trost Inc., has nearly tripled its sales and doubled its work force since its creation. And there is no reason to believe that growth will slow any time soon.

CSI, after all, has created a diverse product mix and has built a reputation for building quality, highly-engineered products. In addition, it doesn’t have to rely on outside suppliers or subcontractors, which allows it to control costs and effectively manage its own inventory.

About one half of the company’s business is custom-fabricated products such as doors for GE Transportation locomotives. Another 25 percent of its business comes through the production of fabricated metal bins. The rest of its business comes through its medical product line, counts General Electric Co., Zurn Industries, Steris Corp. and the Ohio State University among its key customers.

By having this array of product lines, CSI is able to weather economic downturns more effectively than other manufacturers and it sells its products worldwide, which means its fortunes are not tied to any one country.

The results of this strategy are easy to measure. Annual sales have more than tripled from 2000 to 2007 – and the company expects that number to grow again this year, despite the difficult economy.

As CSI has grown, it has been able to steadily add employees at its 70,000-square-foot facility in Fairview. CSI started in 2000 with 32 employees. Today, it has 60 – most of whom earn excellent wages and benefits.

Pennsylvania’s manufacturing sector might be struggling, but companies like CSI Industries prove that the right business strategy can still succeed.

Next week: The Velocity Network