Catalina Cylinders

Catalina Cylinders AT A GLANCE CATALINA CYLINDERS WHAT: A manufacturer of aluminum, compressed gas cylinders WHERE: Headquarters in Garden Grove, California WEBSITE: www.catalinacylinders.com NAVIGATING THE NEW PARADIGM C atalina Cylinders, a leading manufacturer of high and low pressure aluminum, compressed gas cylinders, had its origin in 1953 as a small technical impact company named Cliff Impact, founded inWickliffe, Ohio, that produced aluminum housings for Navy proximity fuses. Its owners,Al Katz and ChuckWright, started the compa- ny with six employees, but it grew rapidly over the following decade. In 1965, a new aerospace forging company named Aluminum Precision Products (APP) was founded by Philip S. Keeler, in Santa Ana, California and in April that same year, Parker Hannifin acquired Cliff Impact. In 1970, Parker relocated Cliff to Eastlake, Ohio, and by 1977, Cliff had begun producing its first aluminum, high pressure gas cylinders. In 1986, Catalina Cylinders Corpora- tion was founded and began producing SCUBA cylinders primarily for use off the California coast.Within a year, Cata- lina expanded into CO2 and Oxygen cylinders. In January 1992, Catalina was acquired by APP and its 2,500-ton press was moved from Huntington Beach to