To build cars, appliances, and airplanes, it takes tools made in Idaho. At Micro 100, a cutting edge operation helps create cutting tools.
"We make carbide cutting tools that are used in all machining and manufacturing operations around the world," said Dale Newberry, President of Micro 100.
The Meridian company's super carbide tools are hand designed to fit different types of machines and equipment. The strong and hard carbide material is cut sharp, in order to be able to cut through metal.
The tools may look small, but they are necessary for the big businesses that use Micro 100 products.
"GE, Boeing, all the auto makers," Newberry listed.
In the late 1960s this family business started from humble beginnings in Southern California, with Dale Newberry and his two brothers, and their father Jack.
"My dad had a dream of making tools that weren't available at that time. We were making tools in his carport. We didn't have walls around us at the time. It was just one wall and we had one little milling machine, a torch and a little tool and cutter grinder. We worked nights in the machine shop and then during the days we'd make tools and go out door to door peddling them," Dale Newberry remembered.
By 1980, the family moved the operation to Idaho where they still call home today, along with 100 other employees and a catalog of 10,000 products.
Each finished carbide cutting tool is magnified, measured, and inspected very closely before it's packed up and shipped. The made in Idaho tools then make their way to companies all over the U.S. and 50 other countries.
"We enjoy Idaho very much and can't imagine a better place to live," Newberry said.
For more information, visit www.micro100.com.
