Exton's Bender Inc. Brings EV Component Manufacturing To Chesco

EXTON, PA — Who knew an electronic components manufacturer is right here in Chester County building safety devices that go into electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations, poised for the expected explosion in the EV market?

The local office of Bender, Inc. is in Exton's Eagleview, though company headquarters is Grunberg, Germany. The Chester County site was chosen because the company founder's son and Bender's main driving force, Christian Bender, was "quite fond of the area" and decided it was in line with what he saw for Bender's future, Bender told Patch. Proximity to direct flights to Germany out of Philadelphia International Airport aided the choice to locate Bender US here.

Head of Bender's EV Sales Torsten Gruhn was recently honored for his work in growing the company here and worldwide over the past 25 years. Bender employs nearly 1,200 people globally and serves over 70 countries. When Torsten joined Bender, the company had around 300 employees.

The Chester County Bender Inc. location has around 60 employees while the headquarters has closer to 600.

"Our first representative was from this area and Bender worked with him for a few years prior to officially establishing a location in the United States," Gruhn explained. "Our first office space was a renovated school building in Exton. From there, we migrated to where we are now, in Eagleview."

Being in the Eastern Time Zone works headquarters in Grunberg, Germany is reachable during a typical workday, with a time difference of only 6 hours. If Bender Inc. was on the West Coast, there would be little to no overlap of business hours, the company said.

EV Market Growing, Bender Growing With It

Bender is now celebrating its 75th anniversary. The company manufactures electrical safety products for virtually every industry.

What is Bender doing in the electric vehicle (EV) market? Bender explained it is an electronic components manufacturer and that provides devices that go into electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging stations. "We have several large clients who order hundreds of thousands of pieces of electronic components for EVs and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) each year," Gruhn said.

As Head of EV sales, Gruhn travels to various customers and trade shows to promote Bender products and find new business opportunities. He moved from Germany in 1996 to join Bender Inc. in the role of applications and liaison engineer, providing communication between HQ and the United States. At the time, most communication between the two locations was done through faxes and phone calls — the internet was not yet in general use.

"Our team in Germany preferred to communicate through a centralized person, and Torsten fit the bill, being bilingual and having a good understanding of our product portfolio across all industries," the company said in a news statement.

"The future is bright, to say the least," Gruhn said. While there is currently a severe shortage in products and a battle going on between hydrogen and battery-driven EVs, the industry outlook is that passenger vehicles will one day be powered by batteries or other alternative fuel sources —possibly by hydrogen, but most likely not gas, he said.

"There is a very high probability that in as little as 10 years, everyone will be driving EVs in some shape or form," Gruhn said.

Go here for information on Bender’s history and how the company got to be where it is today.

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