Velcro Companies is the maker of the original VELCRO Brand hook-and-loop fastener, invented by Swiss engineer George de Mestral after studying burrs under a microscope in the 1940s. From its U.S. base in Manchester, New Hampshire, the privately held firm designs and manufactures thousands of fastening variants - from basic fabric closures to injection-molded plastics, high-temperature retention systems and medical-grade straps - serving customers across medical, aerospace, automotive, military, industrial, footwear, packaging and consumer markets in roughly seven countries.
MacLean-Fogg is a fourth-generation, family-owned American manufacturer founded in 1925 that grew from a single railroad lock nut into a global maker of fasteners, engineered components, plastics, and additive-manufacturing tooling. Headquartered in Mundelein, Illinois, the roughly $1.2 billion-a-year enterprise supplies the automotive, heavy-truck, electric utility, telecom, and industrial markets from dozens of plants across North America, Europe, and Asia. In 2025 it marked its 100th anniversary still owned and led by the MacLean family.
Duncan MacLean is the President and CEO of MacLean-Fogg, the Mundelein, Illinois manufacturing company his great-grandfather founded in 1925. A Dartmouth-trained engineer who started in quality control as a teenager, he is the fourth generation of his family to run the roughly $1 billion enterprise. He joined as a manufacturing engineer in 1996, spent 4.5 years in Germany, rebuilt the components business after the 2008 recession, and now leads global operations across fasteners, power systems, plastics, and 3D-printed tooling as the company crosses its 100-year mark.