Manufacturing
Old Dogs, New Tricks How greater New Haven’s ‘legacy’ manufacturers have survived and thrived into the 21st Century By Thomas R. Violante
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he Elm City has had more than its share of prominent occurrences in the history of the nation — the founding of Yale University in 1701, the first commercial telephone exchange in 1878 and the first hamburger sandwich in 1895. In its heyday, the city was home to many prominent manufacturers, many of them now long gone — StrouseAdler, Simkins Industries, Federal Paper Board & Carton, the A.C. Gilbert Co. and Robby-Len clothing. But a few survivors remain and endure — despite numerous economic downturns and two world wars. And that’s where our story begins.
C. Cowles & Co. Founded in 1838 by Chandler Cowles, C. Cowles & Co. is the oldest continuously operating manufacturing concern in New Haven. In its early days it made hardware, lanterns and buggy-whip holders for horse-drawn carriages. Today, in addition to the core company, Cowles includes five other divisions making products for diverse markets. It is privately owned by Lawrence Moon, who also serves as its president.
“It began as a family business in the early years, but there hasn’t been a Cowles family members involved for several generations,” explains Richard Lyons, the company’s executive vice president. “The facility was originally located on Orange Street but moved to its location at 83 Water Street in the late 1800s. The business evolved from accessories for horse-drawn carriages to automotive products. The company that really evolved from the beginning is Cowles Stamping Inc. (CSI). It does metal stamping primarily for the automotive industry. It’s the direct lineage back to 1838.” Lyons says CSI makes stamped metal components for original equipment automotive customers including brackets, tilt-levers and steering-column components for both American and Japanese automakers that assemble cars in the U.S. “What happened in the 1970s and 1980s is that the company wanted to diversify,” says Lyons. “They saw that, in the automotive world, metal parts were being taken over by plastics, particularly with exterior automotive trim, which is what they had made in the 1950s. They saw plastic entering the market so [Cowles] bought a plastic extrusion business, which we still have today, called Cowles Products Co. and located here in our facility. It sells automotive trim to companies like Pep Boys, AutoZone, Advanced Auto and all major retail auto supply outlets.”
tries, it may be price. In others, it may be features. It’s really about knowing the industry you’re in and knowing what the customers want and providing them with a product that edges the customer with a value proposition.”
Sargent Manufacturing Co. Today one of the largest divisions of Stockholm, Swedenheadquartered Assa Abloy, located at 100 Sargent Drive in New Haven, Sargent markets its products mainly in the U.S. and Canada, accounting for about 95 percent of sales. The company had its origins in 1810 when the Sargent family operated a hardware store. In 1849, Joseph Bradford Sargent manufactured hand cards for combing wool into yarn in a New Britain facility. In 1864, the company relocated to New Haven, where it began manufacturing hardware including door locks, hinges and hand tools. It moved to its 350,000-square-foot Sargent Drive facility 50 years ago. During World War I and World War II Sargent manufactured components for the war effort, which included shell fuses. It also began to employ female workers, whose number grew to about 40 percent of the workforce at a
Another acquisition, the Hydrolevel Co., manufactures boiler controls for residential and commercial heating systems. “We then acquired Carlin Combustion Technology Inc. in 2009, located in East Longmeadow, Mass.,” Lyons says. “Carlin manufactures oil and gas burners for furnaces and boilers for residential and commercial heating. That [company] was bought to synergize with Hydrolevel.” Continuing its mission to expand and diversify, Cowles acquired ABS Lighting, which manufactures commercial floodlighting in the company’s Water Street facility. The last company added was Phillips/Moldex Company, a plastic injection molding facility located in Putnam. Lyons agrees that adding the five companies acquired over the years not only diversified Cowles’ business interests but are likely central to the company’s ability to survive over the last 176 years. “Essentially, the way we run it now is that each division has its own general manager and financials and is responsible for its own profitable growth,” explains Lyons, who adds that the company practices lean management. “We’re able to stay competitive in our markets because we share some administrative resources.” C.Cowles’s Lyons: Acquisitions helped diversify the company.
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“Today, in all of our divisions we look to provide a value proposition to our customers,” he adds. “In some indus-
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