“I grew up in the small town of Thompson, ND where everyone knew your name and where it was a safe place to raise a family,” explained Pat Cronin. His dad was the local electrician and his mom worked as an accountant. Cronin learned the dedication and the value of hard work in the fields hoeing sugar beets at the age of fourteen, which has paid off as he was recently appointed president and CEO of PortaCo in North Moorhead.
His home town of Thompson holds a special meaning as Cronin married his high school sweetheart Dawn. They have been together for thirty-three years and have three grown children, and are now enjoying their three grandchildren. As family time is important to them, they have been able to schedule family vacations on a regular basis.
Cronin received his Mechanical Engineering degree from UND and he is a registered professional engineer. He has had professional involvement in agriculture, outdoor power equipment, highway transportation, and oil and gas. Cronin was a design engineer for International Harvester in Chicago for five years and over nineteen years of experience as a project engineer at Crary in West Fargo. In addition, he served as the director of engineering at MagTech Energy and Precision Equipment Manufacturing in Fargo for seven years.
Moorhead resident Tim Wilson founded PortaCo in 1978. PortaCo was sold to Goldschmidt –Thermit Group based in Leipzig, Germany in 2013 after Wilson’s death. Cronin readily admits that no one is able to fill Tim’s very unique shoes, as he was a well-known personality in the Fargo/Moorhead area. He pointed out that the Goldschmidt-Thermit Group is also a family owned business with operations in more than twenty countries. Hans Goldschmidt invented the alumino-thermic process in 1895 and produces kits to weld railroad rail, which is the largest part of the business.
PortaCo is one of the many Moorhead businesses that are virtually unknown to many of the residents. As a manufacturer of finished goods, PortaCo has developed a vast catalog of hydraulic power units that are sold around the world in several industries and hydraulic tools that are sold mainly to railroad companies. More than 25,000 power units and 20,000 tools have been manufactured by PortaCo and sold worldwide.
The success of the company could not have occurred without the experience and dedication of its seventeen employees. Cronin added that several employees have over twenty years of service. As the transition continues, Cronin stated that he is dedicated to completing it with constant and honest communication and values that include the dignity and worth of each individual. As there is no substitute for a knowledgeable and productive work force, “It is great to have such a skilled group to carry out not only the transition, but to build on the past successes.”
Patrick Cronin, President
PortaCo
1805 2nd Avenue North
Moorhead, MN 56560
patrickc@portaco.com
