Nail giant proudly manufactures in the Lr.S., but sells around the world

ll ['AZE Nails. a division of W.H. Maze, produces the IVlworld's largest variety of specialty nails, in Peru, Il', using domestic recycled steel. The company was started in the late 1880s, when Walter Maze went looking for a better nail that would secure cedar roof shingles no matter how hard the wind blew-and decided to make his own.

"Our commitment and pledge to customers and the environment is to continue providing top-quality nails that we are proud to use in our own homes," said Roelif Loveland, who is the fifth generation president of W.H' Maze. "We grew from a small lumberyard into a major nail maker by really focusing on the nails that builders needed-nails that would insure a quality application and no callbacks."

It all started in 1848, when the Illinois-Michigan canal opened and Samuel Maze opened a lumberyard. His single barge took local wheat to Chicago and returned with white pine from Wisconsin that helped build homes and farms in Peru and surrounding communities.

By the time his son Walter took over the yard in the late 1880s, cedar shingles were a big seller but existing nails were not reliable. Walter bought a used nail machine to make higher-quality nails and shingle sales soared. Soon, other lumberyards wanted to sell Maze's nails, so more machines were ordered and a new business was born.

Another early innovation was packing nails into 5-lb. and 50-lb. boxes, instead of traditional kegs. "A competitor ridiculed us for abandoning the traditional keg, advertising that 'You sure can't roll a box of nails down the aisle the way you can a keg,"' said Loveland. However, customers loved the convenience of smaller boxes, which soon became the norm.

By the early 1920s, the nail business had outgrown a small shed at the yard and moved to a newly constructed factory one mile away. Today, the Maze Nail factory is managed by one of Roelif's brothers, Jim Loveland. Another brother, Pete Loveland, manages the lumberyard, which still operates at its original location beside the Illinois River.

Over the years, Maze Nails has followed the development of new roofing, siding, and trim products very carefully and responded by inventing the highest quality, most economical nails to install them. "Maze has always labeled itself as a specialty nail maker," said Roelif. "We don't make commodity nails-commons or sinkers-but instead focus on value-added details, such as a hot-dipped, galvanized ring-shank nail painted to match pre-finished siding."

According to Roelif, imported nails are the biggest challenge faced by America's few remaining nail mills. "Until the playing field is leveled, even more smaller U.S. mills may be in peril of closing their doors," he said. "Nails from China have in recent years accounted for close to 9O7o of the nails used in this country, putting dozens of U.S. nail mills out of business."

He said that manufacturers in China are not subject to the same laws as American nail makers, especially in regard to human rights of their workers, pollution control, and even workplace hazards. "To really make things tough for U.S. makers, the Chinese government has heavily subsidized their nail industry, adding to the unfair trade advantage."

For these reasons, Maze Nails and four other U.S. nail manufacturers petitioned the Department of Commerce to investigate the situation. As a result, the department recently announced the imposition of anti-dumping duties on certain steel nails from China and the United Arab Emirates.

What's ahead for Maze Nails? "Our future lies with those who design new building material products," said Roelif. "From those very first solid-zinc nails, Maze engineers have been developing and improving Maze Nails for over 100 years."