cellulose-insulation
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Jonathan Strimling and the business of making things difficult
After email software came recycled cardboard. After CleanFiber came InventWood. Jonathan Strimling keeps returning to the awkward stretch between a working invention and a working factory.
CleanFiber
CleanFiber makes high-performance, carbon-negative cellulose building insulation from recycled corrugated cardboard. Using a proprietary wet separation and liquid borate infusion process, it produces a cleaner, lower-dust insulation that performs better than legacy newsprint-based cellulose. Based in Buffalo, New York, the company has scaled rapidly since opening commercial production in 2020 and was named the #1 fastest-growing manufacturing company in America on the 2024 Inc. 5000.
Sami Rahman
Sami Rahman is the CEO of CleanFiber, the Buffalo-based maker of high-performance cellulose insulation spun from recycled corrugated cardboard. A chemical and environmental engineer turned building-materials operator with 20+ years across James Hardie and ICP Group, he joined CleanFiber in January 2025 as President and General Manager and was elevated to CEO after sharpening its sales and operations. He is steering a company that ranked #1 in manufacturing on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list through a Series C raise and the ramp of a plant built to ship over three million bags a year.