Benada Aluminum of Florida

aluminum extrusion company

About Us

Benada Aluminum, a premier extruder of aluminum products, was founded in 1949 by Ben Friedkin. 

 

Friedkin, a Russian immigrant and an entrepreneur from Youngstown, Ohio, saw the need for the use of non-corrosive aluminum extrusions in the manufacturing sector.  Friedkin opened his first extrusion plant in Youngstown (Girard), Ohio in 1949 with a Lowey hydro press.  He added another two presses (Lombard and Lake Erie) to the Girard location and expanded to another facility adding another 3 presses in Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania a few years later.  He complimented his extrusion facilities with 7 window fabrication plants in Youngstown, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, New York and Baltimore.

 

In 1956 Textron Industries purchased all of the extrusion related enterprises from Friedkin.

 

In 1960 Friedkin, now aided by his son Monte returned to the aluminum extrusion industry and purchased the company back from Textron.  At that time the company consisted of the extrusion plant in Youngstown (Girard) and window plants in Chicago and Minneapolis.  Soon thereafter new window plants were added in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Struthers.  In 1962 the Friedkin team added an extrusion plant in Hialeah, Florida to mainly supply extrusions to Air Control (later to be known as Keller Industries).  A few years later they increased their Florida presence by adding another press at a new facility in Medley, Florida.  Soon thereafter they moved the press from Hialeah to the Medley building.  The younger Friedkin managed these operations until 1971 when the companies were sold to Eastern Stainless Steel (later to become EASCO Aluminum).

  

In 1977, Monte Friedkin again returned to the extrusion arena opening Benada Aluminum of Florida, the site of the current facility.  The facility is located on 3.5 acres in Medley, Florida, minutes from the Miami International airport. 

 

As the oldest extruder in Florida and one of the oldest independently-owned extruders in the country, Benada Florida, as it is commonly known, has proudly served South Florida, Puerto Rico, South America and the Caribbean islands for more than 3 decades.