The American Braiding Company reorganized and was incorporated as the American Electric Cable Company in 1938. Monte A. Feinstein, James E. Harroun of Holyoke, and Ruth Moss of Springfield were the incorporators.
Monte Feinstein, who was a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserves, played a role during World War II. The frigate Constellation was long thought to be out of service and unusable. Mr. Feinstein donated the electrical wiring cable necessary to aid in restoring the ship for wartime use. The ship was initially built and launched out of Baltimore in 1797. In 1940. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered the ship restored and launched as a naval flagship.
In 1963, the company was sold to Charles E. Chaney of East Hartford, Connecticut. The inventory and most of the equipment were acquired by Mr. Cheney, who planned to move with his family to Holyoke. Mr. Feinstein and his wife Ruth, who was Vice-President of the former firm, would remain on as co-Vice-Presidents. Willard Mayo would continue on as Plant Production Manager.
The company would continue leasing the first two stories of the building at 181 Appleton Street, totaling 25,000 square feet. The incorporation occurred in the state of Connecticut, under the name American Electric Cable Company, Inc.
Mr. Chaney wanted to pursue an aggressive marketing campaign to double the business's volume and employee number, which stood at 30 at the time of the sale. He had developed many contacts in the electronics and automotive fields through his prior executive positions at other companies. He hoped to also create new products for sale.
In 1981, Charles E. Chaney passed at his home in Suffield, Connecticut. The corporation continued to operate. In 1996, the corporation's president was identified as Robert Hann. The company employed 130 workers at the time.
Times were changing, and the company's products were manufactured for many different uses. This included wiring for sprinkler systems, outdoor lighting, commercial irrigation, fire alarm cables, and robot cables for the production of cars at Ford Motor Company and a large German auto manufacturer. The company dealt directly with manufacturers worldwide, not through distribution channels.
Since 1997, the company had been producing at full capacity and needed additional space beyond the 55,000 square feet it occupied in the entire building.
In 2000, the company sought land adjacent to its mill, which had previously been occupied by buildings destroyed by a significant fire that started at 144 Race Street in 1995. The vacant land included parcels along Race and Main streets. Financing through an industrial development program would be necessary to proceed with the expansion. Obtaining clear titles to the parcels by the city and working with some parcel owners may have impeded the success of this venture.
On January 22, 2004, American Electric Cable Company, Inc., sold the real estate at 181 Appleton Street and 158 Race Street to American Wire of New England, Inc. An additional parcel of land at the corner of Cross Street and Race Street, previously owned by Thomas Labrie and the former location of Acoustical Partitions Company, was also part of the transaction.
Citations:
Newspapers.com (paid subscription): Citations: Holyoke (Massachusetts) Transcript & Transcript-Telegram; Springfield (Massachusetts) Republican; Hartford (Connecticut) Courant; Daily Hampshire Gazette (Northampton, Massachusetts); publication dates and pages are shown.
Secretary of State, Corporations Division, Boston, Massachusetts
Hampden County Registry of Deeds, Springfield, Massachusetts
No comments:
Post a Comment