HOLLAND – Five months after the death of Sordal Founder Dale Danver, the once publicity hungry R&D lab, which created non-flammable paper and insulating tiles that will fly on the next generation space shuttle, maintains a wall of silence.
Danver, 54, died of natural causes Oct. 5 while on vacation in Portugal. Other than the annoucement of Danver’s death, the company has not issued a press release since Oct. 18. In the nine months prior, Sordal issued nearly 40 press releases.
A company spokeswoman on Monday said Robert Smart, Sordal’s former vice president of R&D, is now chief executive officer, and one of his two daughters, Elizabeth Danver, serves as president. When asked for an interview, the spokeswoman said, “We don’t want a story written about us now.”
Sordal was founded by Danver in 1999. The company focused on the development and manufacture of thermally stable, lightweight, highly inflammable, open and closed cell polyimide foams and related materials, used primarily by the U.S. military.
Sordal twice won the SBAM Innovation of the Year Award and in 2005 was named one of the 50 Companies To Watch in Michigan by the Edward Lowe Foundation. But the current status of Danver’s company remains shrouded in secrecy.
