B&F Fastener Supply was honored with the Minnesota Family Business of the Year award by Twin Cities Business Journal.

Founded in 1988 by Loren O’Brien and the late Steven Johnson in Minneapolis as an industrial and construction supply distributorship, today B&F has 200 employees at 14 locations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

The second generation of the O’Brien family – Nicole Baltes, Aryn Young and J.J. O’Brien have joined the first generation of Loren O’Brien and Barb O’Brien in leading the company.

“We have a large footprint in the market. We never thought we’d be what we are today,” marketing director Young told The Monticello Times.

There are three B&F divisions of the fastener distributorship: B&F Custom Machining, B&F Custom Packaging and B&F Inventory Management.

Receiving the honor in 2020, with all the Covid-19 challenges businesses faced had special meaning, executive VP of sales Ryan Shaw said.

“While 2020 was a struggle, we had no layoffs,” Aryn Young said of the pandemic which dominated the year.

B&F Fastener Supply, the O’Brien family, and the company’s leadership team also remained focused on understanding its position as a business, understanding its history, and understanding the culture those within the company were raised in, Young told Monticello Times reporter Jeffrey Hago.

“We’ve been able to surround our customers with members of our team.”

Larry O’Brien is CEO and Nicole Bailes is president.

B&F Fastener Supply distributes to OEM, MRO and construction markets and is headquartered at 7100 Sunwood Dr. NW, Ramsey, MN 55303-5100.  Tel: 763 252-2300  Web: BFFastenerSupply.com