C&D Assembly celebrates 30 years

It was August of 1992 when Jeff Cronk used his credit card to purchase $2,000 worth of supplies to make circuit boards for a company called Ithaca Peripherals — which was then doing business in Groton — and as a result of that effort, Cronk and his business partner at the time launched their company, C&D Assembly.

A Groton native, Cronk is a 1986 Groton High School (GHS) alum. When he was in 10th grade, his physics teacher, Gary Smith, brought a Heathkit into school and ran an electronics class as an elective. Cronk readily enrolled.

“When I saw that opportunity, it ‘sparked’ my curiosity and definitely ‘ignited’ my passion for electronics,” Cronk said, with puns intended. “We had our class down in the basement, and now, the Groton STEAM lab is down there.”

STEAM stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math.

With his future vision in sight, Cronk attended the TST BOCES Trade Electricity program in his junior year, followed by its senior year Electronics program. While at TST, Cronk also interned at Precision Filters (PF) in Ithaca and was hired there immediately after graduation as an assembler — soldering circuit boards.

“Within two years, PF paid for me to attend Tompkins Cortland Community College to take the electronics program there while I was working,” Cronk said. “I moved up the ranks there in different jobs through the years.”

When Cronk became aware that Ithaca Peripherals’ (IP) volume of jobs was growing so fast that it couldn’t keep up with the need, he and his business partner pitched their ability to meet the need, and C&D Assembly was off and running.

“We started out working in a basement,” Cronk said. “But then we rented the old craft store on Cayuga Street until we could buy a building. Before too long, we bought the old Empire Soils building on Corona Avenue, and that’s where we were until July of 2021.”

By now, you may be wondering what type of work is done at C&D; it’s actually a medium-volume contract manufacturer for industrial electronics. High-tech circuit boards manufactured at C&D go into printers, measuring equipment, lighting and more. It does not get involved with consumer electronics such as TVs or telephones.

C&D Assembly has done nothing but grow since that first $2,000 on Cronk’s credit card. In 2004, a $500,000 addition was put on the building, and some other changes happened for Cronk in between.

Cronk was still working at PF even after C&D was established — in fact, he worked at both from 1992 to 2003 — but he also worked with Mike Hammond from Cortland at PF. Around 2000, Hammond joined the ownership of C&D, and the company incorporated at that time.

In 1993, Cronk met and married his wife, Pam Cronk, who was a nurse at Cayuga Medical Center. They have since had three children — Allison, Marissa and Adam.

Hammond and his wife, Patty, his children, Ben and Kati, and all the Cronks have managed to survive and flourish despite the demands of owning and operating such a successful business.

The employee ranks have also grown from three in 1992 to 15 when C&D moved to Corona Avenue to now 32 employees, many of whom have been with the company for over 10 years, in its newest and finest location at 101 Gerald L. Moses Dr. off Route 222 in Groton.

“This building used to house the old Plastisol company, where they made fire truck bodies,” Jeff said. “But when I was a teenager, it was Talbot’s farm, and I used to work here baling hay. Plastisol came in 2008 and left in 2015. It just sat empty until we moved into it in summer of 2021.”

Jeff said it took almost a year to renovate the new building, and he is understandably proud that the work was almost all done by Hammond, himself and many of their employees after hours.

“We’ve just kept growing and learning through the years, and our employees kept getting better as they grew their skills,” Jeff said. “Now, we have room to spread out and grow and take on bigger projects.”

While Jeff would love to be able to give back and bring in student interns, New York state law requires them to be 18 years old, making that prohibitive, but he has found other ways to invest in students.

About four years ago, when TST BOCES launched its PTECH Academy, Jeff was able to begin to offer tours of C&D and give talks to students on soft skills and company ownership and everything in between. C&D has also donated circuit boards to PTECH for students to practice on.

When the GHS STEAM Learning Center (tinyurl.com/yfk6blgp) opened its doors, Jeff was able to offer the same or similar assistance to those students.

“I would certainly offer internships if I could,” Jeff said. “But what we can do is hire young folks and train them up in the field. Right now, we have five employees who are in their low 20s who are learning on the job.”

Jeff admitted that he spends most of his time at and for C&D, but he has managed to coach youth cross-country and track through Groton Recreation from 2016 through 2020 and was also instrumental in building the Groton Trail System with Scott Weeks and Jennifer Jones. Jeff still picks up the weekly trash at the trail entrances.

Jeff also started running about 10 or 12 years ago and has run numerous marathons and trail runs, including a 50K trail run in March 2020 in California with his daughter, Allison.

“Running keeps me sane,” Jeff said. “And seeing my employees’ cars in the parking lot every day is something I love because I know they have homes and families because they’re members of this productive team.”

Now celebrating 30 years in business for C&D Assembly Inc. this month, Jeff said that his and Hammond’s future goal for the company is “to leave this business here in Groton — providing jobs and fun no matter how we end up exiting it.”

Groton on the Inside appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Submit story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com or text or call Linda at (607) 227-4922.  

In brief: 
 
Get your last swim in! 

The Groton Memorial Park pool on Sykes Street will be closing soon! Summer seems to fly by faster every year. The last day the pool will be open is Aug. 26.

Groton Olde Home Days dash 

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This is a free event open to all children. Race groups will run 0.1 miles for ages 7 and under, 0.2 miles for 8 to 10 years old, and 0.3 miles for children ages 11 to 13. All age groups will line up in front of The First National Bank of Groton, 161 Main St., by 5:30 p.m. Please wear Groton apparel, if possible, comfortable clothing and sneakers.

All participants will receive a completion ribbon at the finish line. For planning purposes, please fill out the form at forms.gle/7cgGnsvHTfPNYVVm6 to let Groton Rec know your child will be participating. The form is not required to participate.

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Thursday Grill Nights at the Groton American Legion Post 800 on Main Street are from 5 to 7 p.m. and are open to everyone. It’s a nice way to get out and enjoy a reasonably priced meal, prepared and served by volunteers, with all the profits going to the Post.

Regular menu items include Hofmann’s hot dogs, hot or sweet Italian sausage with pepper and onions and Angus sirloin hamburgers or cheeseburgers. Other offerings, such as chicken or pork sliders, rotate on different weeks, as do the side dishes. They might be French fries, salt potatoes, casseroles, soups and more. Desserts are also available and are different each week. Main dishes range from $3 to $6; desserts and sides range from $2 to $3 each.