Jim Buchwald & Alex Wright

“Made in America:  Creation of One of the Best Capital Goods Companies in the World”

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Ariel Corporation. Ariel is headquartered in Mount Vernon, Ohio, and is the world’s largest manufacturer of separable reciprocating natural gas compressors. The company’s founder, Jim Buchwald, tells the grand story of Ariel through a series of letters he wrote to his grandson, Alex Wright, who is the company’s Chief Operating Officer.  These letters are the basis for Jim Buchwald’s book entitled Letters to Alex: A History of Ariel Corporation that gives special insight into why Ariel became a success.

Jim Buchwald and Alex Wright will have a conversation with Roger Beckett, Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center, and talk about how an idea became a basement operation that evolved into a state of art factory.  It is a story of impossible challenges and a story of a remarkable workforce who take pride in producing the highest quality product in the world.  It is a perfectly American story proving that free men can prosper.