spring, he’d travel from town to town ville.
“We went to things like the Paris
selling them. When the wagon was
empty, he’d sell the wagon and take
a train back to Evansburg to start the
process again.
In 1933, the Channellock Cham-
pion tongue and groove pliers were
developed with patent and trademark
protection granted in 1935.
Today, Channellock manufacturers
more than 75 different sizes and types
of pliers and other tools.
It keeps quality at the forefront by
never straying from four founding prin-
ciples of George DeArment:
• Good management is never
far from the factory floor.
• People are more important
than machines.
• Bigger doesn’t always mean better.
• Dedication to excellence is the
surest way to surmount adversity
and prosper.
“It’s consistent product quality, de-
livering value to customers and taking
care of your employees,” Jon said.
“It’s making sure you do all the right
things.”
DeArment gives credit to Channel-
lock’s 360 employees.
“They have high regard for attention
to detail and (get) the satisfaction mak-
ing a product people use every day,”
Jon said.
The pandemic ended up being a
boost for Channellock as hand tools
and hardware were essential industries.
The demand jumped as people were
home, adapting to life in a pandemic,
said Ryan DeArment, Jon’s brother and
the vice president of sales and market-
ing.
“People were redoing kitchens and
bathrooms. Home offices had to be
built. Kids needed an area to study
because they were home,” Ryan said.
“Plus millennials now are buying homes
and redoing them.”
Though well into its second century,
Channellock sees ways to grow.
Since 2009, Channellock has worked
with Do It Best Corp., a hardware retail-
ing cooperative, licensing the Chan-
nellock name on very select quality
hardware items like wet-dry vacuums
and tool boxes.
“They’ve been a good custodian of
the (Channellock) brand,” Ryan said.
“All of Channellock’s changes have a
single goal — keep the company com-
petitive in a mature market for hand
tools,” Jon said.
The DeArment brothers are confi-
dent Channellock will remain compet-
itive as the family’s sixth generation is
coming onboard.
Will DeArment, Jon’s son, has been
materials coordinator at the firm since
the fall of 2021. Getting a 2018 bach-
elor’s degree in supply chain manage-
ment from Duquesne University, Will
got logistical experience with two other
companies before returning to Mead-
10 FOUNDATIONS 2022/2023 Celebration
2022 Foundations 56 pages.indd 10
“Channellock was a good culture to
be able to grow up in and be inspired
by,” Will said. “I came from another job
because I wanted to get experience
somewhere else, but I always want to
come back. People here put in their
best work every day — such an empha-
sis on quality and attention to detail.”
ACUTEC
Acutec Precision Aerospace Inc.’s
growth from a 17-employee basic
machine shop to a leading aerospace
supplier with more than 400 employees
is due to one thing — change.
“You can’t count on anything being
the same,” said Rob Smith, Acutec’s
executive chairman.
“There’s always a risk a customer will
change,” said Elisabeth Smith, Acutec’s
president, chief executive officer and
majority owner since 2014.
“One customer we have is buy-
ing another customer, things always
change,” said Elisabeth, who is Smith’s
oldest daughter.
A 1973 graduate of Allegheny
College, Rob Smith was in national and
international sales and marketing in
the tire industry when he returned to
Meadville in 1988 to cofound Acutec.
Acutec faced foreclosure in 1994
when the elder Smith bought the shop,
determined to put it on a path for
growth.
In the 1990s, LORD Corp. (now
Parker LORD) aerospace division was
the biggest customer, but Smith didn’t
want to be heavily dependent on one
entity.
“We said ‘Well then, we’re an aero-
space company,’” Rob Smith said. “It’s
what you do — you declare it and we
went after aerospace companies.”
Acutec Precision Aerospace Inc. has grown from a 17-employee basic machine
shop to a leading aerospace supplier with more than 400 employees. Pictured are
Executive Chairman Rob Smith and President, Chief Executive Officer and majority
owner Elisabeth Smith.
Air Show, and lo and behold, we got
international customers,” he said. “We
would oversell ourselves and have to
expand — over and over again.”
In the mid-1990s, Acutec built a new
plant outside of Saegertown to keep
up with business.
Today, Saegertown has 80,000
square feet. It does turning, or ma-
chining, of large parts as well as new
product introduction.
In 2007, Acutec added space at
Crawford Business Park outside of
Meadville. Multiple expansion there
have led 280,000 square feet of
manufacturing space for smaller parts,
assembly and where raw material is
processed.
Acutec has 420 employees at
three sites — 390 in Meadville and
Saegertown, plus 30 workers at a
40,000-square-foot plant in St. Ste-
phen, South Carolina.
About 40 percent of its business is
commercial aerospace with 60 percent
national defense and as well as power
generation.
A 2004 economics and mathematics
graduate of Haverford College, Elisa-
beth then worked as an aerospace and
defense industry analyst in Washington,
D.C., for three years before earning a
master’s degree in business adminis-
tration in 2009 from the University of
Michigan.
Joining United Technologies Corp.’s
aerospace divisions, she worked two
years as a manager on the Blackhawk
UH-60M Medevac helicopter final
assembly line before returning to
Meadville and Acutec in 2013.
Elisabeth said there are two key
things she’s learned from her father.
“Empower your people to be the
SHANNON ROAE/MEADVILLE TRIBUNE
6/9/22 4:31 PM