Taryn Goodman, VP of finance at Industrial Rivet & Fastener Co. has a demanding role as manager in her family’s business. But she also finds time to volunteer as a director with Women in the Fastener Industry or WIFI, where she was profiled, and which provides opportunities for women in the industry to connect, network, and learn from one another. (WIFI is always represented at Fastener Fair USA.) Taryn was also profiled recently at Fastener Engineering.

Goodman’s great grandfather, Willie Goodman, founded Industrial Rivet & Washer Co. in 1912, though he likely never expected the company to last more than 100 years or to maintain one of the industry’s largest inventories. Offered an opportunity to sell rivets in New York City, he grew to become an expert in riveting.

Today, his company offers more than 1.4 billion pieces of high-quality rivets, in addition to automated riveting tools, delivery systems, and other related services. 

“We’re currently a fourth-generation, family-owned business,” says Taryn Goodman, who in addition to finance also handles marketing and administrative responsibilities. “That includes me and my cousin, Steven Sherman, who’s the company vice president and head of R&D and Engineering.” Taryn Goodman’s dad, Bill, is the president.

“It’s essentially three of us at the helm right now and we’re really an amazing team who all work well together,” she says. “Working here was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” After trying then deciding against a medical career, Taryn pursued an MBA and worked in the investment banking industry, ending up at Barclay’s.

 “I enjoyed it but knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do forever,” says Taryn. “We’d advise all of these companies because that’s what you do in investment banking, but I never really got to see it through or learn the final results. I felt something was missing.”

Eventually, Goodman approached her family for advice. And in 2012, she officially joined Industrial Rivet & Fastener Co.

“Although, I admit I didn’t have all that much fastener knowledge coming into the job, which was somewhat surprising given I had grown up with the company,” she says. A quick study, Taryn was impressed with how the business was run. Still, she wanted to take things to the “next level.”

“In our parents’ generation, the company was well-known as the ‘supermarket of rivets,’” she says. “Most rivet companies offered only one type of rivet but we manufactured and sold several different types, so we became true experts in permanent mechanical fastening.”

Much like other fasteners, rivets have to fit the application correctly. But, as Goodman points out, they also have to function correctly. “It’s not like with a nut and a bolt, where you can re-install the components by unfastening and re-fastening. When you set a rivet, you’re changing the shape of it and it’s meant to set permanently. If you have to take it out for some reason, the rivet is damaged — and, potentially, so is the application it was holding together.”

To provide the correct rivet and installation instructions for multiple applications, the team at Industrial Rivet must be extremely knowledgeable. It’s not always an easy match. Goodman says one of their goals was to go from being a one-stop supermarket of rivets to one that also provided engineered solutions.

 “We’re continually assessing what’s the ideal rivet for a certain application and what’s the most efficient way that we can manufacture it.” Industrial Rivet’s extensive manufacturing network means the company can design, manufacture, and engineer custom and ready-made products for a global customer and distribution base.