Not Authorized
You are currently not authorized to access this section.
Please contact your Administrator to change your authorization settings.
Please contact your Administrator to change your authorization settings.
About CDI
CDI Story - The O'Brien Family Business| The story of CDI is a classic business success story. In April 1994 entrepreneur, Pat O'Brien, started Crystal Distribution Inc. in Crystal, MN. The business began as a manufacturer's rep selling dampers, louvers and ductwork accessories to contractors in the Minneapolis area. It didn't take long for Pat to know that it was hard to find manufacturers who followed through on deadlines.
After missing deadline after deadline Pat decided to make a major change to his business plan and become a manufacturing company. CDI custom curb adapters differentiated itself from other manufacturing companies by meeting deadlines - period. The original facility was a small 5,000 sq ft building shared with two other companies in order to help with expenses. Pat's days were spent calling on customers and his nights we spent building what he sold. Some days he sold so much product that he had to recruit friends and family to come and work throughout the night to complete the jobs on time. 1998 arrived with CDI experiencing solid success and rapid growth. Its reputation as a company built upon strong values and the ability to ship on time continued to grow as did its market share which had spread across much of the Midwest. Pat's wife, Bobbi Jo, joined the company that same year and it was then they decided to grow a family business. By 2002 they had hired Pat's father, Jim O'Brien, to be the first outside sales person and Pat's high school friend, Mark Greenwood, to be the first engineer for CDI. Both had been part of the crew that pulled the all-nighters in the beginning. With growing customer demand for pricing catalogs and drawings, the CDI website was created. The industry's first online system was launched where customers could get quotes, drawings and email confirmations when an order was received and another one when the product was shipped. The industry loved this tool and their business exploded! Currently CDI has 5 plants strategically located across the USA in Charlotte, Minneapolis, Dallas, Seattle and Phoenix providing 2-3 day maximum shipping for their customers. With the acquisition of several high tech machines, many more employees, the use of the company's innovative website and online tools, CDI has become a nationwide curb manufacturer. Pat and Bobbi Jo's roles have evolved as more team members have joined CDI with Pat in the President and Visionary role and Bobbi Jo as COO and Implementer. Today CDI leads the curb adapter industry with the fastest lead times and the most curbs manufactured annually. Twenty-five years later, the values that CDI was built upon are present in each facet of the company and the strong desire to completely satisfy all of its customers remains at the core of CDI's mission. They've always understood that without the continued support of its customers, the O'Briens would not have had the ability to turn their idea into reality. |  |
Core Values
Fast
Respond quickly
Easy
Don't complicate things
Fun
Be a great day maker!
Who we are and what we do
We say how we CAN not why we can'tWe are intentionally different
We commit to doing better
We Deliver as promised
Three Uniques
SpeedNo one can build and deliver faster
Technology
Our technology makes your job easier and faster - you will sell more RTU's using our technology
Service
We make it easy and fun!
Employment
Join our fast paced hard working team| CDI is the world's fastest curb manufacturer. We manufacture curbs for the HVAC industry and are growing with many opportunities for career advancement. We are a nation-wide company with manufacturing facilities located in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Dallas, Seattle, Charlotte, and Phoenix.
We encourage personal growth and offer career advancement to individuals who demonstrate initiative. Training is available for many positions. Departments include Welding, Insulating, Turret Operation, Engineering, Sales, Finance, Administration, IT and Human Resources. CDI employees are offered the following benefits:
|  |
